The White House’s “climate czar” and alarmist John Kerry reportedly pays hefty six-figure salaries to all but one individual employed in his office, costing taxpayers a staggering $4.3 million annually.
According to the Boston Herald, which reviewed State Department records obtained using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Kerry has never been particularly “forthcoming since being named Special Presidential Envoy for Climate,” prompting the probe. The climate czar, a former Secretary of State under then-President Barack Obama, told the outlet that he reports directly to President Biden, rather than current Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.
Kerry “does not reveal the names of anyone on his staff and redacts the titles of eight top aides paid up to $186,680 a year,” the Boston Herald explains. “The 27 [staff] entries include brief titles — from ‘policy analyst’ to ‘senior advisor’ — and bi-weekly pay.”
Branch chief of Statutory Compliance for the State Department, James Rosenbaum, defended the Department’s decision to redact staff names, stating that it would be a “clearly unwarranted invasion of an individual’s personal privacy” to reveal the names of Kerry’s staff receiving more than $100,000 annually from taxpayer funds.
The Boston Herald said that it is unclear whether or not Kerry himself is included in the list provided by the State Department.
Kerry, who has flown around the globe propagating the supposed need for political action and infrastructure overhaul to address climate change since being appointed as the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, has received significant blowback from critics who accuse him of hypocrisy.
Many have rebuked his use of private jets for contributing to carbon emissions, which the climate czar fervently defended, alleging that luxury transportation is “the only choice for somebody like [him] who is traveling the world to win this battle.”
On Friday, the House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into Kerry’s actions as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and requested State Department records regarding Kerry’s alleged “collusion with leftist environmental groups to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) and to undermine U.S. national and energy security.”
This piece first appeared at TPUSA.
