Kamala Harris has this key advantage over Susan Rice in Joe Biden's Veepstakes

The president's Senate GOP allies are ready to pounce if Joe Biden picks Ms Rice as his running mate, writes US Political Correspondent Griffin Connolly

Democratic senator Kamala Harris is only the second black woman to serve in the Senate, and in 2020, a prominent contender for the vice-presidential ticket (AP)

Senator Kamala Harris has plenty of baggage within her own party stemming from her time as a prosecutor and attorney general in California, where she has been accused of being too harsh on non-violent criminals and pursuing policies that had disproportionately harmful impacts on communities of colour. Yet, she is still widely seen as the frontrunner to become the Democratic Party's vice presidential candidate.

Ms Harris has at least one distinct advantage over Susan Rice, the former Obama-era ambassador to the United Nations and national security adviser who also is among those in the running to join Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on his ticket as vice president, possibly as soon as this week.

Ms Harris isn't a target of Republican congressional investigations.