In one of the many only-in-2016 twists, the former Texas governor appeared on Dancing With The Stars this fall as the onetime-Apprentice star contended for, and ultimately won, the White House: 
 
 If confirmed, Perry would oversee a broad-reaching department with ties in everything from funding energy research and providing loans for alternative energy efforts, to tracking and analyzing American energy production and consumption, to securing the safety of America's nuclear weapons. (Bastien Inzaurralde,Julio Negron,Osman Malik/The Washington Post) 
 
 President-elect Donald Trump picked Rick Perry to head the Energy Department on Wednesday, seeking to put the former Texas governor in control of an agency whose name he forgot during a presidential debate even as he vowed to abolish it. During a presidential primary debate on CNBC in 2011, when then-candidate Perry was listing "three agencies of government, when I get there, that are gone," he was able to name Commerce and Education but blanked on the third, saying, "What's the third one there?" That was the origin of Perry’s “oops” moment in November 2011, when he said during a Republican debate that “it’s three agencies of government when I get there that are gone: Commerce, Education and the, uh, uh, what’s the third one there, let’s see?” Pressed on whether he could name the third agency, he confessed: “I can’t. Sorry.” 
 
 Perry later said the third agency would have been the Energy Department. Oops.” 
 
 [Trump taps Montana congressman Ryan Zinke, who frequently votes against environmentalists, as Interior secretary] 
 
 Later during the debate, Perry offered: “By the way, that was the Department of Energy I was reaching for a while ago.” 
 
 Speaking to reporters once the event was over, he said, “The bottom line is I may have forgotten energy, but I haven’t forgotten my conservative principles, and that’s what this campaign is really going to be about.” 
 
 Despite its name, most of the Energy Department’s budget is devoted to maintaining the nation’s stockpile of nuclear warheads and to cleaning up nuclear waste at sites left by military weapons programs. It's a good thing former Texas Gov. The oil business is a home state industry for Perry, and he's on the board of directors for Energy Transfer Partners, the developers of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, which would ship as much as 570,000 barrels a day of oil from the shale fields of North Dakota across four states. Now Donald Trump has chosen the former Texas governor to lead the sprawling department, which oversees the security of the nation's nuclear weapons and has played major roles in President Barack Obama's climate agenda and nuclear deal with Iran. Employees there are already on edge, given the fact that Trump’s transition team gave a questionnaire to DOE officials asking that they identify which employees have worked on either international climate negotiations or domestic initiatives to cut carbon.
– News that Donald Trump has settled on Rick Perry to run the Energy Department prompted a slew of stories Tuesday with one common refrain, and the former Texas governor must be thrilled with it. Here's a sampling: NBC News: "President-elect Donald Trump has selected former Texas Gov. Rick Perry—who famously once forgot that he wanted to abolish the Energy Department—to be secretary of energy ..." New York Times: "Trump plans to name former Gov. Rick Perry of Texas to lead the Energy Department, elevating a man who once could not remember the name of the agency he wanted to eliminate to the cabinet post, secretary of energy, that will run it." Washington Post: "Trump has picked Rick Perry to head the Energy Department, said two people familiar with the decision, seeking to put the former Texas governor in control of an agency whose name he forgot during a presidential debate even as he vowed to abolish it." Politico: "On a presidential debate stage five years ago, Rick Perry blanked on the Energy Department's name when trying to include it in a list of agencies he promised to abolish—memorably concluding with 'oops.' Now Trump has chosen the former Texas governor ..." ABC News: "Trump is expected to choose a man to lead the Department of Energy who infamously forgot its name." BBC: "Trump is expected to pick ex-Texas Governor Rick Perry as his energy secretary, a department whose name he famously forgot in a TV debate." NPR: "It's a good thing former Texas Gov. Rick Perry once forgot he wanted to eliminate the Department of Energy, because President-elect Donald Trump is nominating him to lead the agency. That's according to reports by multiple news outlets." And so on, even here.