Trump Administration Moves to Replace U.S. Deputy at IEA Over Policy Rift

The Trump administration is seeking to replace Mary Burce Warlick, the United States-appointed deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency, according to a Politico E&E News report that cited former U.S. officials and industry insiders. Warlick, a retired career diplomat who took the post in 2021, occupies the second-highest position at the Paris-based watchdog, a role traditionally reserved for an American representative. The move follows months of escalating tension between Washington and the IEA over the agency’s growing emphasis on clean-energy policies. Energy Secretary Chris Wright reiterated in July that the United States would “reform the IEA or withdraw,” arguing the body had strayed from its core mandate of safeguarding energy security. A House committee has already advanced legislation that would eliminate U.S. funding for the organization if it does not change course. Replacing Warlick would give the White House an opportunity to install a figure more closely aligned with its push for expanded fossil-fuel production. The effort underscores a broader campaign by the administration to reshape international and domestic climate institutions it views as insufficiently supportive of conventional energy sources.