Not Forgotten: Rick Perry is Trump's Choice for Energy Post
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is reportedly at the top of President-elect Donald Trump's list to run the Energy Department.
The former governor met with Trump earlier Tuesday at Trump Tower.
Perry harshly criticized Trump during the primaries, but he later endorsed the Republican nominee and said he'd be willing to work in a Trump administration.
He's also one of a number of Trump nominees who are evangelical Christians. In an interview with CBN's David Brody , Perry said that he'd be "lost" without God and prays for the "Holy Spirit to guide" his tongue.
If confirmed, Perry would oversee a department whose main missions include research on emerging energy technologies, regulating energy efficiency, managing the nation’s nuclear weapons and building nuclear reactors for Navy vessels.
It also faces numerous challenges regarding the future of nuclear energy, including whether to continue working toward a nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain. Nuclear power producers say the site is necessary to stay in business.
The former governor, who ran for President in 2011, famously forgot the name of the Energy Department in a Republican presidential primary debate.
Perry tried to list the three federal departments he wanted to eliminate. He listed the departments of Education and Commerce, but then stumbled, saying, “The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.”
After stepping down as Texas’s longest-serving governor in 2015, Perry ran again unsuccessfully for president.
The Perry pick was first reported by CBS and Fox.
According to The Hill, Perry could play a role in Trump’s proposal to invest $1 trillion in infrastructure. While it doesn’t have a formal regulatory responsibility, the Energy Department does research and analysis into the nation’s needs regarding energy infrastructure, like transmission lines and pipelines.
Some say that Perry lacks the experience for the position.
The two men who served as President Obama's energy secretaries were physicists.
