Kamala Harris holes up in Hawaii as Biden signs spending bill, reveals student loan plan

Kamala Harris is officially on island time.

The vice president and husband Doug Emhoff have been vacationing in Hawaii for more than a week — putting Harris thousands of miles away from President Biden’s side for two of the biggest set-piece events of his administration so far.

Harris and Emhoff arrived in Hawaii on Aug. 15, one day before Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. The bill, a slimmed-down version of the president’s initial Build Back Better plan, spends $437 billion on environmental and healthcare programs — and is paid for, in part, by stepped-up tax collection by a beefed-up IRS.

The president was flanked at the signing ceremony by key congressional Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) — but not Harris, who was photographed the same day at a farmers market.

On Wednesday, Biden announced his administration would forgive billions of dollars in federal student loan debt, potentially wiping the financial slate clean for 20 million Americans. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona was by the president’s side for his remarks, but Harris was nowhere to be seen.

The veep’s Hawaii trip followed a quiet weekend at the couple’s home in Brentwood, Calif. Her last public event was Aug. 12 in her hometown of Oakland, where she spoke about the future of the US space program.

Harris has had nothing on her official calendar since then.

The vice president’s office and a White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a query about when the vice president and second gentleman were due back in DC.

The absence of America’s second-in-command appears to have largely gone unnoticed — aside from a handful of photos posted on social media that show the vice president visiting the beach.

TMZ also published a photo on Monday of Harris in peak vacation mode as she went hiking in Haena State Park on the island of Kauaʻi.

In the past, Harris has been dogged by rumors of a strained relationship with Biden — including a report last year that she was being sidelined amid growing tensions with the president.

It also emerged earlier this year that Biden and Harris had only met for lunch sparingly in 2022 — despite the president wanting it to be a weekly occurrence as it had been with his former boss, President Barack Obama.