Kamala Harris Picks Her Secret Service Code Name

Kamala Harris has chosen her Secret Service code name: Pioneer. The presumptive vice presidential nominee was put under Secret Service protection last week, soon after Joe Biden named her as his running mate, and law enforcement sources tell CNN and ABC News of Harris' call sign selection. Code names must be chosen from a list of names approved by the White House Communications Agency, but Harris clearly chose one that has special meaning for her personally—she's the first Black woman and the first Indian-American woman to run on a major party ticket.

"Over time, the (Secret Service) protectees have almost taken on the persona of the call sign that they had selected," a former Secret Service special agent tells CNN. Biden has kept the same code name he used as VP, Celtic, and his wife, Jill, also retained hers from that time: Capri. Then-President Obama's code name is Renegade, while Michelle Obama's is Renaissance. (A candidate's family members who are also under protection can select their own call signs, but they must start with the same first letter as the candidate's.) President Trump and Melania Trump are Mogul and Muse; Mike and Karen Pence are Hoosier and Hummingbird. (More Election 2020 stories.)