The House Appropriations Committee has John Kerry on a short leash. Republican members advanced their bill, dubbed the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs which seeks to eliminate funding for special federal government envoys not authorized by Congress or confirmed by the Senate. The Democrat has been serving as U.S. Special Presidential Climate Envoy since January 2021.
Within the House of Representatives, the driving force behind this project was the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, which advanced its presentation to ideally put it into operation in fiscal year 2024.
"Over the last several years, we have witnessed a boondoggle of climate change spending, and our bill provides a much needed course correction in several key areas," subcommittee Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart said.
According to the State Department, the money allocated annually for Kerry's office was $16.7 million for fiscal years 2022 and 2023.
🚨ICYMI
I joined @MorningsMaria to discuss how the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs bill confronts our enemies, supports our friends, and cuts wasteful spending…something this administration has completely turned on its head.
It is insane to treat adversaries as…
— Mario Diaz-Balart (@MarioDB) June 28, 2023
The bill also includes provisions that target programs that Kerry and Biden have championed since the United States returned to the Paris Agreement in 2021, as well as a provision to prohibit the Treasury Department to carry out the administration's climate objectives at the World Bank and other multilateral development banks.
What is John Kerry doing in the Biden Administration?
Questions about his tenure began publicly in March 2022, when Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) learned in the middle of an interview that Kerry's salary was not public. "What? ... That should be public. My salary is on the Internet. The secretary of state's is in line and so is the president's," he reacted at the time.
The Republicans state that Kerry's job consists of traveling the world in a private jet, giving speeches about climate change and encouraging other governments to abandon fossil fuels.
The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives has already taken action and began investigating the office of the former Democratic nominee for President. House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman, James Comer (R-KY), sent a letter to Kerry demanding information and documents about his office in general. In addition, he was asked to clarify his ties with the Communist Party of China (CCP).
"We are left with an insufficient understanding of your office’s activities, spending, and staffing," he wrote in the message, while requesting information to "enable long overdue oversight of your office."
"As a member of the President’s cabinet, you should be representing the United States’ interests. Your statements, however, consistently show disregard for American national security and taxpayer dollars," concluded Comer.
