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spokeswoman for the Energy Department said Perry remains a
"proud member" of President Donald Trump's Cabinet, in a
statement that stopped short of denying the Politico report.
"While the beltway media has breathlessly reported on rumors of
Secretary Perry's departure for months, he is still the
Secretary of Energy," spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said in a
statement. "One day the media will be right. Today is not that
day."
While Perry's contacts with Ukraine have drawn him into the
impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump by House of
Representatives Democrats, the three people said his expected
departure was not related to the Ukraine controversy, Politico
reported.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment
investigation last week after a whistleblower lodged a complaint
about Trump asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to
look into investigating former Vice President and Democratic
presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The complaint mentioned Perry, who led a small U.S. delegation
to Zelenskiy's inauguration in May, replacing Vice President
Mike Pence.
Perry has been free of ethics investigations that have weighed
on other Trump officials, forcing a number of them, such as
former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott
Pruitt, to leave the Republican administration.
Perry, who was the longest serving governor of oil-producing
Texas, has worked to advance Trump's "energy dominance" agenda
on maximizing production of fossil fuels. He has been a frequent
visitor to Europe promoting what he calls "freedom gas" or
shipments of U.S. liquefied natural gas, to provide Poland,
Lithuania and other countries as an alternative to Russian gas.
Perry often met with Khalid al-Falih, a friend and fellow
alumnus of Texas A&M University, who was until early September
the energy minister the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia.
Perry held talks with Falih about Saudi Arabia's plans to build
its first two commercial nuclear power plants, urging the
kingdom to use U.S. nuclear technology, rather than Chinese or
Russian technology.
Saudi Arabia has resisted agreeing to nonproliferation
standards, but Perry said he told officials there it was
important for the kingdom to be perceived by the world as strong
on nonproliferation.
Perry has so far failed to save U.S. nuclear energy and coal
plants from a rash of closures due to competition from natural
gas, solar and wind power.
Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, who has attended
several international energy meetings in recent months, is
widely expected by energy experts to replace Perry.
(This story refiles to correct spelling of Hynes in par 3)
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Eric Beech; Writing by
Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and
Lincoln Feast.)
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