?A bold leader?: White House defends Kamala Harris after reports say she?s struggling

The White House was moved to defend her on Sunday night, after leading US media outlets portrayed a VP struggling to make her mark.

Psaki was firing back on multiple fronts.

Success on one of the biggest such concerns, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, will see the White House host a signing ceremony on Monday, a chance for the president to bask in public victory at a time when his poll ratings - and Harris’s - are sliding.

Reports on Harris’s fortunes generally include discussion of her own political future.

As the first Black and Asian woman to be vice-president, she is assured of her place in history. But Biden is nearly 79 and may not run for re-election. Speculation continues to mount over Harris’s chances in a contest for the next Democratic nomination, perhaps in opposition to Pete Buttigieg, who ran much more strongly in 2020 and who as transportation secretary has made a confident start to Washington life.

Like Harris, Buttigieg has been attacked by the right - if not so bizarrely as in claims last week that Harris spoke with a French accent while in Paris. Buttigieg recently took paternity leave after he and his husband adopted twins. Criticised by Fox News hosts and others, he was defended by the White House.

There is also a typically outlandish Washington rumour that Biden might remove Harris as VP by appointing her to the supreme court.