December 13, 2016

Donald Trump Taps Rick Perry for Energy Secretary and Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State

The former Texas governor once said he wanted to eliminate the agency he’s been selected to lead.


After weeks of intense speculation, Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he had chosen Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his nominee for secretary of state. The president-elect made the official announcement on Twitter:

Shortly afterward, the Associated Press and other media outlets reported that Trump had tapped former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to lead the Department of Energy. During a Republican presidential debate in 2011, Perry said he wanted to get rid of the federal agency but could not remember its name. 

Since Tillerson was first spotted at Trump Tower on Saturday, both Democrats and Republicans have voiced strong concerns over his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

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