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Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Symone Sanders, senior adviser and chief spokeswoman for Vice President Kamala Harris, will leave her post by the end of the year and become the second major departure from her staff in months, according to news reports. CNN, Politico and The Washington Post reported Sanders' departure with a letter she sent to staff Wednesday night. Ashley Etienne, Harris' communications director, is also leaving soon.
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"I'm so grateful to [Harris] for her vote of confidence from the very beginning and the opportunity to see what can be unburdened by what has been," Sanders wrote, according to Politico.
"Every day, I arrived to the White House complex knowing our work made a tangible difference for Americans. I am immensely grateful and will miss working for her."
Sanders has pushed back against recent negative press about Harris that suggested there's some discord among staffers.
Sanders, 31, emerged as a major political player in her 20s while serving as the spokeswoman for the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders. She joined President Joe Biden's campaign in 2020 and transitioned to serving Harris after the election.
"Symone has been working at the highest levels and in an extraordinarily intense environment for three years for Joe Biden," Anita Dunn, a former top aide to Biden, told CNN.
"When you look at the three years, two on the campaign, one in the White House, nobody can question her decision that she needs a break and it's time to move on. And she'll always be a member of the Biden-Harris family."
