Rick Perry summoned to Trump Tower to discuss energy secretary position
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been summoned to Trump Tower for a meeting today to discuss the position of energy secretary, according to transition sources.
Perry was contacted over the weekend and the meeting finalized on Sunday. Perry will arrive as internal debate over energy secretary intensifies. Perry will now be the third contender against Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. VA, and Ray Washburne, a key Trump fundraiser, former RNC finance chair, restaurateur and investor in oil and gas operations.
Perry sits on two corporate boards - one of them Energy Transfer Partners - and that may present a confirmation issue should he win the energy secretary competition.
Energy Transfer Partners has a subsidiary known as Dakota Access LLC and it is attempting to build the Dakota Access Pipeline. That Dakota Access Pipeline was the subject of public protests over its potential environmental impact and damage to Native American lands.
The Obama administration recently blocked the Dakota Access Pipeline easement through Lake Oahe, a move that jeopardized the 1,172-mile underground pipeline. The incoming Trump administration has said it will review the decision.
Mr. Trump once invested in Energy Transfer Partners and supports completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline. He told Fox News Sunday that he would intervene if the matter is not resolved before he is inaugurated.
“When I get to office, if it’s not solved, I’ll have it solved very quickly,” he said.
When Perry ran for president in 2012, he famously forgot to name one of the three agencies he had pledged to eliminate during a debate. It was the Department of Energy.
“And I will tell you, it is three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, Education, and the... what’s the third one there? Let’s see,” he said, only later realizing which one he had missed.
