by Jason Hopkins
President Donald Trump announced Friday he would nominate Dan Brouillette to be the next secretary of the Department of Energy, following the departure of Rick Perry.
“I want to thank Secretary of Energy Rick Perry for the outstanding job he has done. He will be leaving at the end of the year to pursue other interests. Rick was a great Governor of Texas and a great Secretary of Energy,” Trump tweeted Friday. “He is also my friend! At the same time, I am pleased to nominate Deputy Secretary Dan Brouillette to be the new Secretary of Energy. Dan’s experience in the sector is unparalleled. A total professional, I have no doubt that Dan will do a great job!”
There was mounting speculation that Perry, one of the longest-serving members of Trump’s cabinet, would be leaving the administration. The Texas Republican reportedly handed in his resignation Thursday and is expected to serve for the remainder of 2019.
Perry, a former Texas governor, is leaving the Trump administration while he’s become more engulfed if the president’s Ukraine scandal.
The Democratic-controlled House intelligence, foreign affairs and oversight committees earlier in October subpoenaed Perry to provide documents related to the president’s impeachment inquiry. Democratic lawmakers are looking for evidence of Perry’s potential involvement in the administration’s efforts to push Ukraine into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden.
House Democrats want to know if Perry withheld military aid to the Eastern European country during that period of time.
“Recently, public reports have raised questions about any role you may have played in conveying or reinforcing the President’s stark message to the Ukrainian President,” Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff of California and Eliot Engel of New York and late Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland wrote in an Oct. 10 letter to the energy secretary.
In Perry’s place will be Brouillette, who has served as the deputy secretary of the department since August 2017. A Louisiana native, Brouillette boasts a long resume in energy circles. He served as the assistant secretary of energy for congressional and intergovernmental affairs under former President George W. Bush’s administration and was a longtime congressional staffer.
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Jason Hopkins is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
