WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has asked Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention, which will seek to find ways around congressional inaction to stem rising violence. 

Harris, a former prosecutor and state attorney general, has years of experience on the issue and was the natural fit to lead the effort, White House officials said. Adding the new office to her portfolio means Harris is tasked with some of the highest-profile domestic issues — including voting rights and abortion, as well as the increase in migration to the U.S. But they’re also among the most fraught, difficult to solve and hard for Democrats to make headway on in Congress. 

“Throughout her career, the vice president has worked tirelessly to protect people from gun violence,” said Kristine Lucius, a domestic policy aide to Harris. “The vice president feels the urgency of this issue from every family she’s grieved with and from students across the country who are fighting for their right to be saved from gun violence.”