President Biden will name senior adviser and longtime Democratic strategist John Podesta to serve as the U.S. special climate envoy, replacing John Kerry who is stepping down later this year.
Senior administration confirmed that Mr. Podesta, who now serves as a White House senior adviser on clean energy, will assume the role which will be renamed senior adviser to the president for international climate policy.
Mr. Podesta is expected to remain at the White House instead of moving to the State Department, where Mr. Kerry worked. Mr. Kerry had served as Secretary of State under President Obama.
It is not clear when Mr. Kerry will step down or when Mr. Podesta will assume the role.
Currently, Mr. Podesta oversees the implementation of Mr. Biden’s massive tax and climate spending package, the Inflation Reduction Act. The law allocated billions to boost wind, solar, and other forms of clean energy.
He also helped direct environmental policies while working in the Obama and Clinton administrations. Mr. Podesta also served as the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016.
The switch comes ahead of the 2024 election, which is expected to be a rematch between Mr. Biden and former President Trump. Mr. Biden is scrambling to implement some of his strongest environmental initiatives to both appeal to progressive voters as well as reduce Mr. Trump’s ability to undo those actions if he wins in November.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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