ABC News(WASHINGTON) — Donald Trump’s 2016 GOP primary rival, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, is testifying Thursday in his Senate confirmation hearing for secretary of the Energy Department, telling lawmakers that he regretted once calling for the elimination of the agency.
“My past statements made over five years ago about abolishing the Department of Energy do not reflect my current thinking,” Perry told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. “In fact, after being briefed on so many of the vital functions of the Department of Energy, I regret recommending its elimination.”
He also vowed to protect U.S. nuclear stockpiles, beef up security measures and “promote energy in all forms.”
Perry went on to address the U.S. energy grid’s potential vulnerabilities to foreign influence, saying that the United States has the “technology and ability to stop cybersnooping.”
Trump selected Perry last month to serve as his secretary of energy after a contentious primary season in which the two ran against each other.
When announcing Perry for energy secretary, Trump praised his gubernatorial record in Texas, saying he had produced millions of jobs and lower energy prices when he ran the state between 2000 and 2015.
But Perry was one of the first in the 2016 race to attack Trump, calling him a “cancer on conservatism.”
Perry, 66, is likely to face tough questioning from Democrats about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the controversial oil transportation expansion that President Obama rejected in November, but Perry supported during both of his presidential runs.
The Department of Energy was one of the federal agencies Perry said during his first presidential run in 2012 that he wanted to see eliminated. But in his prepared remarks Thursday, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News, he is expected to say he regretted calling for the department’s removal.
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