Biden Charges Harris With Leading White House Border Response: ‘There is No One Better Capable’

President Joe Biden announced that he’s putting Vice President Kamala Harris in charge of his administration’s response to the situation at the U.S. southern border.

Biden spoke to reporters on Wednesday while he and Harris held a meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Department of Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas. The president said he would task Harris to lead the White House’s engagement with Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries to address the migration surge.

Biden outlined his view that the best way to stem the migrant surge would be to resolve the issues ailing countries in Central America, which he accused the Trump administration of failing to do. The president referred to Harris’ record as he expressed optimism for her success, saying “the best thing to do is put someone who, when he or she speaks, they don’t have to wonder ‘is that where the president is?'”

“When she speaks, she speaks for me. Doesn’t have to check with me, she knows what she’s doing,” Biden said. He then turned to Harris, acknowledging it to be a tough assignment, “but there is no one better capable of trying to organize this.”

Harris spoke about the border crisis earlier in the day as she described it as a challenging issue, but “we’re dealing with it.” She repeated several of those points as she accepted the role from the president, and offered her readiness to work with Congress and foreign leaders to tackle the crisis.

Watch above, via MSNBC.