According to reports, President-elect Donald Trump selected former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to lead the Department of Energy, an agency he infamously said, or forgot to say, he wanted to eliminate.
The Department of Energy is primarily responsible for developing nuclear weapons, managing the country’s nuclear stockpile, and operating nuclear nonproliferation and counterterrorism programs.
Since its establishment in 1977, the priorities of the agency have shifted from energy and nuclear development to environmental clean up after the Cold War.
Most recently, the priority has been “ensuring the nation’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through science and technology solutions,” according to the Energy Department’s website.
According to The New York Times, “About 60 percent of the Energy Department’s budget is devoted to managing the National Nuclear Security Administration, which defines its mission as enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science.”
After serving as lieutenant governor to George W. Bush, Perry served as governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. To date, he is the longest-serving governor in the state’s history. Perry also ran for president on the Republican ticket twice, most recently dropping out in late 2015.
During a 2011 presidential debate, Perry had an “oops” moment when he forgot the name of the Energy Department while listing the three government agencies he would seek to eliminate as president.
“Commerce, education, and … ”
Later during that debate, Perry said, “It was the Department of Energy that I was reaching for before.”
Perry and Trump’s relationship started off rocky. After calling him a “cancer on conservatism,” Perry turned around and endorsed Trump in May.
“He is not a perfect man. But what I do believe is that he loves this country and he will surround himself with capable, experienced people and he will listen to them,” Perry told CNN.
According to CBS, Perry sits on the board of two companies, including Energy Transfer Partners, which is involved in building the Dakota Access pipeline.
The pipeline, which has been the center of controversy, would run 1,170 miles and transport as much as 500,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the Bakken production region of North Dakota to an existing pipeline in Patoka, Illinois.
Protesters of the pipeline recently celebrated a victory when an Obama administration official announced they would “explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing.”
But according to reports, Trump supports moving forward with the pipeline, making it likely that Perry will face questions about potential conflicts of interest during his Senate confirmation hearing.
Most recently in September, Perry appeared as a contestant on the 23rd season of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” where he said he aspired to help veterans and change the perception of Republicans in the media. After being voted off, Perry said he believed his appearance on the hit TV show was helpful to Trump’s election.
“You know, I was probably more helpful to Donald last night being here than sitting in the audience at the debate because people got to see a Republican that they may have thought was some stuffed shirt—you know, right-wing, crazy whack job, or however they would like to identify us—and over the course of the last month, people got to see a person I think that they came to enjoy being around and liked,” he told People in October. “[They] saw a real different individual than may have been caricatured in the media over the course of the last 14 years.”
Perry is an evangelical Christian and served in the U.S. Air Force, flying tactical airlift aircraft in Europe and the Middle East.
If confirmed, Perry will follow Ernest Moniz, a former physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Other candidates said to be in the running for the Cabinet post were Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, and Ray Washburne, a Trump fundraiser, former Republican National Committee finance chair, and energy investor, according to CBS.
