Harris refuses to invite Vance for a courtesy visit to the vice president’s residence before the inauguration

When JD Vance, his wife Usha and their three young children move into the Naval Observatory residence on January 20, it will be their first time in the white Queen Anne-style mansion that has housed vice presidents since the 1970s.

Vice President Kamala Harris has not extended an invitation for an official meeting or tour, multiple Democratic and Republican sources told CBS News.

In November, Usha Vance, through intermediaries, contacted staff of the home’s current occupants, Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, for details, including what they would need to childproof it. Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel Vance are all under the age of eight.

The questions were initially rebuffed by a Harris political aide. But since then, there has been communication between Vance’s team and the Navy aides who oversee the residence.

Before Christmas, Navy officials provided a preview of the home to discuss the layout of the residence, logistics and practicalities of moving in, and to help answer any questions the Vances had, a said a person familiar with the call.

Usha Vance spoke with Emhoff for about 40 minutes last week, according to sources. Harris sources said arrangements were being made to accommodate Vance’s children.

Spokespeople for Vance and Harris declined to comment.

But people close to Harris say she never had a chance to tour the House before she was sworn in in 2021. However, she took office during the transition period. Covid epidemicjust after the Riot at the Capitol – and Donald Trump refused to admit his electoral defeat.

Advisors to then-Vice President Mike Pence dispute that no invitation was ever offered. They say he quietly gave Harris and Emhoff the opportunity to visit in the final days of the Trump administration. The invitation came quietly because Trump resisted accommodation from the new administration.

No formal meeting between Pence and Harris ever took place, Democratic and Republican sources said.

People close to Harris defended her decision not to invite Vance to visit her, a tradition that was broken during the Trump-Pence administration. Harris’ team focused on an overseas trip that was canceled and the California wildfires.

In 2016, Vice President Biden and his wife Jill hosted the Pences at the Northwest Washington residence shortly after the election.

“We are just very grateful for the hospitality of the vice president and the second lady today,” Pence said at the time.

Harris didn’t move into the Naval Observatory residence until April 2021, about three months after taking the oath of office, because the house was in need of repairs.