Oct. 17 (UPI) — Secretary of Energy Rick Perry plans to resign from his position, President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday.
Trump said Perry plans to leave “toward the end of the year” and that he had already selected a replacement.
“We have the man that … in this case it’s a man that we’re going to be putting in Rick’s place. We’ll be announcing it very shortly,” Trump said.
The president said he was not surprised by Perry’s decision stating he had been informed of secretary’s plans to depart the White House six months ago.
“Rick and I have been talking for six months,” he said. “In fact I thought he might go a bit sooner. But he’s got some very big plans. He’s going to be very successful.”
Perry, who served as governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015, was confirmed by the Senate as Trump’s secretary of energy in March 2017.
