John Kerry to step down as Biden admin climate czar: report

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry is reportedly planning to leave the White House in the coming months to join President Biden's presidential campaign.

The new was first reported by Axios on Saturday. Kerry, who ran for president in 2004, is the first person to serve as the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, as the position was created when Biden was inaugurated in January 2021.

Kerry had endorsed Biden for president in 2019.

"I believe Joe Biden is the President our country desperately needs right now, not because I’ve known Joe so long, but because I know Joe so well," Kerry said at the time.

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Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/File)

"Through it all, I’ve seen Joe tested in public service and tested in life itself," the statement added. "I know his character."

Kerry's position, which was created by Biden without Senate approval, has been subject to scrutiny by Republicans.

In July, more than two dozen Republicans introduced the No Taxpayer Funding for Climate Zealots Advancing Radical Schemes Act, which was intended to defund Kerry's position. 

"Climate czar John Kerry is the poster child for the Biden administration's anti-energy policies that are destroying both our economy and national security," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital in a statement at the time.

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U.S. climate envoy John Kerry speaks during an interview with a Reuters journalist in Dakar, Senegal, Sept. 15, 2022. (Reuters/Christophe Van Der Perre/File)

Earlier in July, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., accused Kerry of being not being transparent about his office during a hearing. 

"I have two deputies and they are well known, they're very experienced people, Rick Duke and Sue Biniaz … but I'm not going to go through all that," Kerry responded. "I'm not going to fill them in here in this way, because that would be a violation of our process within the State Department."

President Joe Biden walks on the South Lawn to board Marine One in Washington, D.C., Dec. 8, 2023.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/File)

"I'm not going to go through them by name because that is not the required process of the State Department," he continued.

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Fox News Digital's Thomas Catenacci and Peter Hasson contributed to this report.