Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry is returning to China later this month to resume in-person climate talks with the global superpower, despite being at the center of a House probe into the negotiations.
Kerry will reunite with his Chinese counterparts during the week of July 16. The reunion comes nearly a year after cooperation between the United States and China stalled over former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) high-profile visit to Taiwan.
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"We need genuine cooperation," Kerry told the New York Times on Thursday. "China and the United States are the two largest economies in the world and we’re also the two largest emitters. It’s clear that we have a special responsibility to find common ground."
Climate-related conversations have been going on between the two countries since May, but the trip will mark the first time Kerry has visited the country in person recently. Kerry previously visited China twice in 2021 — the first year he's held the special position.
Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee opened an investigation into Kerry and the negotiations in February. The investigation is led by House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY).
"For the past two years, the Biden administration has withheld information on John Kerry’s role within the administration despite the committee’s many requests," Comer told Fox News in May.
"He was not confirmed by the Senate. He is not held accountable by the American people. He is skirting congressional oversight and that is unacceptable.
"His reported upcoming negotiations with the Chinese on climate topics, an action which he has done on numerous occasions, is inappropriate and potentially undermines U.S. interests and domestic energy security. Mr. Kerry’s continued engagement in shady negotiations will be met with intense scrutiny by the committee," Comer continued.
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Comer sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken in May requesting more information on what Kerry's role as the climate envoy entails. Kerry is the first person to be the climate envoy, but Kerry has served as the secretary of state in the past.
The position does not report directly to the secretary of state, but it does work alongside the department, a department official testified in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.