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"I
am pleased to nominate Deputy Secretary Dan Brouillette to be
the new Secretary of Energy," Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.
"Dan's experience in the sector is unparalleled. A total
professional, I have no doubt that Dan will do a great job!"
If confirmed by the Senate, Brouillette will replace Rick Perry,
who said on Thursday he would step down by the end of the year.
Brouillette, 57, has taken on increasing responsibilities at the
Energy Department in recent months as Perry signaled he would
resign. He went on international trips for the department and
sat in for Perry during several Cabinet meetings.
Brouillette was vice president at Ford <F.N> from 2004 to 2006.
After that, he headed public policy for United Service
Automobile Association (USAA) which offers insurance and
financial services to veterans.
A native of Louisiana, he was a member of the state's Mineral
and Energy Board from 2013 to 2016. Before that he served at the
Energy Department as an assistant secretary for congressional
and intergovernmental affairs for two years under former
President George W. Bush.
Joe McMonigle, who was a department chief of staff under Bush,
said Brouillette does not have the instincts of a politician
like Perry, who had been the longest-serving governor of Texas.
But like Perry, Brouillette has an easy relationship with many
Democratic and Republican lawmakers, McMonigle said.
Brouillette, who met with Trump on Friday, is expected to keep
pushing the president's policy of maximizing oil, gas and coal
output while slashing regulations on energy facilities.
"I don't know of a single issue where he differs from the
president," McMonigle said.
(Reporting by Makini Brice, Timothy Gardner and Steve Holland;
Editing by Sandra Maler, Alistair Bell and Daniel Wallis)
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