Kirsten Gillibrand and Hillary Clinton are reportedly not on speaking terms

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has not consulted former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about her presidential ambitions, and the two were not even on speaking terms leading up to her January campaign announcement, The New York Times reports.

The two Democrats once had a "close relationship," the Times notes, and Gillibrand has said that Clinton is the reason she decided to pursue a career in politics. Gillibrand was chosen to serve the remainder of Clinton's Senate term when Clinton became Secretary of State in 2009.

But according to this report, the relationship has "deteriorated" ever since Gillibrand said in 2017 that former President Bill Clinton should have resigned over the Monica Lewinsky scandal. At the time, Politico reported that Clinton's allies were "buzzing with confusion" and had "speculated about whether her intention was to distance herself from the Clintons ahead of a 2020 presidential run, or whether she had misspoken." Gillibrand announced last month that she had formed an exploratory committee and is pursuing a run for president.

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A number of Democratic presidential hopefuls have met with Clinton in recent weeks, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the Times reports. But not Gillibrand. The two are reportedly supposed to meet "soon," however. "I value her counsel," said Gillibrand last month. "I hope I will be able to earn that in the future."