Podesta, a White House adviser on green energy overseeing the implementation of Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, a massive climate spending law, is set to succeed John Kerry as special climate envoy. But the appointment "appears to be a blatant attempt to sidestep congressional oversight and install Mr. Podesta in a position that under federal law requires the advice and consent of the United States Senate," House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), ranking member for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, wrote in a letter Tuesday evening to the president.

“We are alarmed at your apparent decision to circumvent the law,” the lawmakers told Biden. “This appointment is another example of your administration’s practice of creating new offices that do not require Senate confirmation or that do not have explicit statutory missions and constraints. By placing considerable policy authority with these individuals, you demonstrate a flagrant disregard for the separation of powers and congressional authority under both the Constitution and federal law.”

McMorris Rodgers and Capito’s letter comes as Podesta is under the spotlight for reportedly being behind the Biden administration’s pause in January of liquefied natural gas permit approvals, a decision that foreign policy experts warn will likely embolden foreign adversaries, such as Russia. Meanwhile, Podesta’s brother, Washington power-lobbyist Tony Podesta, has long worked on behalf of foreign companies in the LNG space, including Golden Pass, which is co-owned by the state-run QatarEnergy petroleum company in Doha, Qatar, federal lobbying records show.