--- title: Energy Secretary Rick Perry Might Be Planning to Quit description: People familiar say the former Texas governor has been deliberating a departure, and he is deciding on the terms and timing of his exit. canonical: https://time.com/5572897/rick-perry-energy-secretary-quit-departure/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-04-18T02:05:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T23:19:42.418Z article:section: Politics og:title: Energy Secretary Rick Perry Might Be Planning to Quit og:description: Sources say he is deciding on the terms and timing of his departure og:url: https://time.com/5572897/rick-perry-energy-secretary-quit-departure/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt871164a1dd2ea2cb/69894889929fad565cbf30f1/rick-perry-departure.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: rick-perry-departure og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Energy Secretary Rick Perry Might Be Planning to Quit twitter:description: Sources say he is deciding on the terms and timing of his departure twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt871164a1dd2ea2cb/69894889929fad565cbf30f1/rick-perry-departure.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rick Perry Might Be Planning to Quit as Trump's Energy Secretary by [JENNIFER JACOBS, JENNIFER A. DLOUHY and ARI NATTER / BLOOMBERG](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## JENNIFER JACOBS, JENNIFER A. DLOUHY and ARI NATTER / BLOOMBERG Apr 18, 2019 2:05 AM UTC  Energy Secretary Rick Perry testifies before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during a hearing on the President's budget request for Fiscal Year 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 2, 2019. Energy Secretary Rick Perry testifies before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during a hearing on the President's budget request for Fiscal Year 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 2, 2019.Patrick Semansky—AP by [JENNIFER JACOBS, JENNIFER A. DLOUHY and ARI NATTER / BLOOMBERG](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## JENNIFER JACOBS, JENNIFER A. DLOUHY and ARI NATTER / BLOOMBERG Apr 18, 2019 2:05 AM UTC Energy Secretary Rick Perry is planning to leave the Trump administration and is finalizing the terms and timing of his departure, according to two people familiar with his plans. While Perry’s exit isn’t imminent and one person familiar with the matter said the former Texas governor still hasn’t fully made up his mind, three people said he has been seriously considering his departure for weeks. All of the people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The White House press office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Perry, an Air Force veteran who was previously Texas’s longest-serving governor, has enjoyed a good rapport with President Donald Trump. Trump personally asked Perry if he’d take over as Homeland Security secretary, before the president asked Kirstjen Nielsen to resign earlier this month, two of the people said. Perry declined, they said. Perry has been preparing the agency’s deputy secretary, Dan Brouillette, for the transition, two people said. It’s unclear if Trump would name Brouillette as secretary. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5572897/rick-perry-energy-secretary-quit-departure/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5572897/rick-perry-energy-secretary-quit-departure/"},"headline":"Rick Perry Might Be Planning to Quit as Trump's Energy Secretary","datePublished":"2019-04-18T02:05:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T23:19:42.418Z","description":"People familiar say he is deciding on the terms and timing of his departure","url":"https://time.com/5572897/rick-perry-energy-secretary-quit-departure/","keywords":["rick perry","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt871164a1dd2ea2cb/69894889929fad565cbf30f1/rick-perry-departure.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"JENNIFER JACOBS, JENNIFER A. 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