Biden administration climate czar Gina McCarthy expected to step down in May

According to a source familiar with the situation who confirmed her decision, White House national climate adviser Gina McCarthy is expected to leave her post next month.

McCarthy at first was expected to close her time of service at the end of February, but instead she agreed to stay a while longer. 

McCarthy pushed back against rumors of her resignation in a tweet late on Thursday. “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 so much work to do – and I remain excited about the opportunities ahead,” she wrote.

If McCarthy does resign, she would be leaving as the president’s administration is confronting the fact that its ideas for major federal action on climate change, which seemed promising only a few months ago, have almost entirely been eliminated.

Earlier on Thursday, the White House did not confirm that McCarthy has plans to step down. “We have no personal announcements to make,” said White House spokesman Vedant Patel. “Gina and her entire team continue to be laser-focused on delivering President Biden’s clean energy agenda.”

McCarthy had served as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration, and she had been expected to oversee the implementation of a half-trillion-dollar-plus spending package on climate change.

That package fell through after negotiations with Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, failed. Still, the White House and other Senate Democrats have informally been discussing trying to bring back the comate provisions as part of a more limited package or a measure on its own.

For the group, time is of the essence as midterm elections could potentially make it impossible to push through such major legislation.