Mary Frances Repko

Mary Frances serves as a Senior Vice President in the Environmental Policy Practice at Waxman Strategies. Her exceptional career on energy and environmental issues spans more than thirty years of government work at the highest levels in the House, the Senate, and the White House, culminating in her last appointment as Deputy National Climate Advisor and Deputy Assistant to the President. Mary Frances joined Waxman Strategies from Breakthrough Energy where she was the head of Government Relations.   

As Deputy National Climate Advisor, Mary Frances was responsible for a suite of energy and climate related issues, including methane control, electric transmission siting, offshore wind deployment, hydrogen development, environmental and climate justice, and clean energy project permitting. She played a key role in the development of policy and regulations to implement the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and in the drafting and negotiating of the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act. 

Prior to her work at the White House, Mary Frances served on the staff of six members of Congress. Most recently, she was Staff Director for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the committee of jurisdiction for the country’s major domestic environmental laws  (Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Toxic Substances Control Act and more), the nation’s highway programs, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Economic Development Administration, the Tennessee Valley Authority and other regional agencies.  Working under Chairman Tom Carper Mary Frances led the efforts to draft and enact the Committee’s infrastructure and climate contributions to the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, totaling more than $460 billion in investments.  

In the House of Representatives, Mary Frances served as Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Steny Hoyer.  She staffed Representative Hoyer in his positions as Majority Leader and Whip, and the Democratic caucus on climate, energy, environmental, natural resources, public lands, Native American, science, space, domestic manufacturing, and related technology issues.  She advised on content and floor scheduling of all related bills, developed floor and amendment strategy, produced floor and press statements, and regularly interacted with external constituency groups, House committees and legislative caucuses.  Her work included staffing the House leadership for the 2007 and 2009 energy and climate bills (the Waxman-Markey bill), the 2010 response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the 2009 Public Lands package, the 2016 Water Resources Development Act, and the 2016 reauthorization of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  

 Mary Frances also worked on the Environment and Public Works Committee as a Professional Staff Member for former Senators Jeffords and Boxer. She also served as the Legislative Director for Senator Maria Cantwell and as Deputy Legislative Director and Legislative Assistant for former Senator Russ Feingold.   

Mary Frances holds a B.A from the Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree in resource policy and management from the University of Michigan and lives in Washington, DC.