Biden climate adviser pushes back on departure rumors

National climate adviser Gina McCarthy is pushing back on reports that she will soon depart her White House post.

Late Thursday she tweeted, “Reports that I have resigned from my position as President Biden’s National Climate Advisor are simply inaccurate.”

“We’ve made great progress these past 14 months, but we have much more work to do — and I remain excited about the opportunities ahead,” McCarthy added. 

However, it was not reported that she resigned. Instead, multiple news outlets reported that she was planning to step down.

Reuters, which first reported on the potential exit, noted that she could leave as soon as next month. E&E News reported that she would leave in the coming months. 

Asked for comment on Thursday, White House spokesperson Vedant Patel said via email, ”We have no personnel announcements to make.”

“Gina and her entire team continue to be laser focused on delivering on President Biden’s clean energy agenda,” he added. 

Sources said there has been talk about the possibility McCarthy could leave her position, but they did not have direct knowledge of any plans or timing of any departure.

One source said that while they had heard rumors that her exit was a possibility, they don’t expect her to leave before November.

It is not particularly unusual for White House officials to leave after more than a year of service, though most are likely to try to stay at least until after the November midterm elections. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki, for instance, has said she plans to leave her role this year. News outlets including The Hill reported earlier this month that Psaki plans to leave her job in the spring and will eventually take a role at MSNBC. 

McCarthy, who was appointed at the start of the Biden administration to be the White House’s domestic “climate czar,” has spearheaded a number of efforts on climate change. 

She has helped promote climate policies in the ill-fated Build Back Better bill, which stalled after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced his opposition in December. 

The package contained many of the administration’s most ambitious climate-related proposals, and with the 2022 midterms widely expected to cost the Democrats their congressional majority, was considered one of the administration’s last opportunities for ambitious legislative climate action.

Many Democrats are still  hoping to push some sort of climate and social spending agenda across the finish line, but it’s unclear if they will achieve that. 

In the meantime, many of the White House’s climate agenda items have come in the form of executive orders, such as a 2021 order for federal government operations to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

She previously served as head of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration. 

Other White House officials were quick to offer support for McCarthy following the reports on Thursday. 

“We’re lucky to have @ginamccarthy46 on the team here!” White House chief of staff Ron Klain tweeted.