White House press secretary Josh Earnest took a swipe Tuesday at former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is expected to be nominated for Secretary of Energy by President-elect Trump this week.
Earnest was asked about President-elect Trump’s request for the names of Energy Department officials who were involved in writing international climate accords for the Obama administration. In response, Earnest said he worried that revealed an effort to target some of these career civil servants, and said he hoped Trump would base his judgments about career government employees “on merit and not on politics.”
“I’m sure the president-elect used the same type of criteria when choosing his new energy secretary as well,” he said, smirking.
Trump met with Perry on Monday and is expected to nominate him to lead the Energy Department under his administration, according to multiple reports.
Asked later if he cared to elaborate on Perry’s appointment, Earnest told reporters, “I think I’ve said enough about that.”
