Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday called former Gov. Rick Perry an “outstanding” choice to serve as Energy Secretary in the Trump administration.
Perry, who served as Texas governor from 2000-2015 and ran twice for president, will help increase jobs through the energy sector, McConnell said in a statement.
“President-elect Trump has made an outstanding choice with Governor Perry to head the Department of Energy with a focus on more American energy and more American jobs,” said McConnell, R-Ky. “For the past eight years, our nation’s energy potential has been held back by an administration that put ideology and politics ahead of jobs and our economy. We need someone like Governor Perry to help guide policies that will help strengthen America’s energy and national security.”
McConnell said he plans to work with Perry on reviving Kentucky’s Paducah energy site as well as technology related to coal production, which has declined in recent years due to EPA regulations and the abundance of natural gas.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., also signaled his support for the nomination.
“Rick Perry has the experience and the ability to improve America’s energy production, update our nuclear and energy infrastructure, and weed out waste and incompetence at the Department of Energy,” he said. “And he can lead the department to a renewed focus on basic research and development to cement America as the world’s undisputed leader in innovation in the 21st century.”
During Perry’s 2012 White House bid, he pledged to eliminate the Energy Department. Democrats say they oppose his nomination.
