The top Republicans on the House and Senate environmental committees on Wednesday alleged the White House flouted congressional oversight by giving senior adviser John Podesta new responsibilities over international climate action.

The Republican lawmakers said the administration is circumventing a law that requires Senate confirmation of special envoys by installing Podesta as an international climate adviser when Special Climate Envoy John Kerry departs the administration on Wednesday. Podesta will not hold the special envoy title, but will take over much of Kerry's portfolio while retaining duties like implementing the Inflation Reduction Act.

"The mere fact that Mr. Podesta will receive a different title and will be based in the White House, rather than the Department of State like his predecessor, does not obviate this statutory obligation," House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden. "Any objective observer would reasonably suspect that you crafted Mr. Podesta’s 'new' position to circumvent a recently enacted law so as to duck accountability to Congress and impede or subvert oversight efforts."

Biden created Kerry's position before he signed a new measure passed by Congress that would require Senate confirmation of special envoys. Kerry was given a seat on the White House National Security Council and operated largely out of the State Department.

White House spokesperson Sam Michel said in an email that existing Special Presidential Envoy for Climate officials who had worked under Kerry will report to Rich Verma, deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources.

Michel added that Podesta will continue in his spot at the White House Office of Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation, which he has led since 2022. Podesta will also work closely with the State Department and regularly collaborate with Verma, but will not report directly to him, Michel said.

Capito and McMorris Rodgers asked the White House to respond to a list of questions by March 19. They want the White House to detail the duties of Podesta's new role, to whom he will report and how many officials will report to him and how the position differs from the special climate envoy.

The lawmakers also asked Podesta to testify before their committees and for the White House to explain why they would or would not submit Podesta for Senate confirmation for his role.

"As Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy, Mr. Podesta appears to be assuming all of Mr. Kerry’s duties to act as an envoy for climate on your behalf and to represent the interests of the United States in international policy negotiations," the lawmakers wrote. "There appears to be no distinction between this new title and the role of the SPEC."

Podesta at a D.C. event on Wednesday pledged to build on the "momentum" Kerry established in pushing for global deals to rein in greenhouse gases.