Kamala Harris’ role: Biden says he will assign his vice president the ‘urgent need of the moment’

President-elect Joe Biden laid out his vision for his soon-to-be vice president’s role, saying Kamala Harris will be asked to take on “the urgent need of the moment” rather than pursue her own policy agenda.

“I headed the [2009] recovery act not because that’s what I said I wanted to do,” Mr Biden said Thursday night of his tenure as vice president – but because then-President Barack Obama instructed him to be the lead negotiator with Congress.

“There are so many things that are going to land on this president’s desk,” he said, referring to himself, during an interview with CNN. “I have confidence in turning to her” to handle the “urgent need of the moment.”

“There’s not a single decision I’ve made yet … that I haven’t discussed it with Kamala first,” the incoming president said.

Of her expectations, Ms Harris described the duo as “full partners in this process.”

“The president-elect has been … very clear to me that he wants me to be the first and the last [one] in the room,” she said during their first joint interview since Election Day. “On every issue that impacts the American people, I will be a full partner to the president. … I will be there to support him … and the American people.”