Elise Stefanik: GOP wants to know what John Kerry is doing
Ranking House member says the American people deserve to know if the 'climate czar's' duties are funded by taxpayers
As President Biden's climate czar John Kerry reportedly flies around the world meeting with foreign government entities, House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., told "Fox News Primetime" her caucus is curious to what work the former secretary of state is actually doing in his new White House role.
"My question is what is John Kerry doing? [And] is he doing it on the taxpayer dollars?" she asked. "John Kerry has been flying around the world, having conversations in backchannels with the Chinese Communist Party, having conversations with the Iranians, sharing classified information that puts Israel in very difficult position."
She noted that Biden tapped Kerry to be his climate envoy for national security during the presidential transition which didn't need confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
"He has a position that has a seat on the National Security Council. This was not a Senate confirmed position so there is no oversight that was done when he was appointed to this—so Republicans want to know what is he actually doing? Is it funded by the taxpayers?" Stefanik noted. "Because the American people deserve transparency."
Host Brian Kilmeade noted Kerry has expressed interest in constructing a climate change conference by the end of the year, while few details about the conference have yet to be released.
During his tenure in the Biden administration, Kerry has warned of dire civilizational consequences if climate change is not dealt with constructively.
"Around 2030 is the date at which we have to get the world now on the right path in order to cap the level of warming at that level of 1.5 [degrees celsius]," he said at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
In an interview with CBS, he warned that we only have 9 years to act on climate before seeing the "worst consequences."
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While lecturing Americans on the threat climate change poses, Kerry flew on private jet in February to receive an environmental award. When critics blasted Kerry for flying private, he defended himself by saying, "it's the only choice for somebody like me who is traveling the world to win this battle."
Fox News' Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.