Energy Secretary Rick Perry is reportedly planning on stepping down

Rick Perry.
(Image credit: Safin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images)

Energy Secretary Rick Perry has spent the last few weeks seriously considering leaving the Trump administration, and is coming up with a final exit plan, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Wednesday.

Perry, a former governor of Texas and Dancing with the Stars contestant, has been preparing Dan Brouillette, the department's deputy secretary, for the transition, two people said. His possible departure has nothing to do with President Trump, Bloomberg reports; Perry, 69, wants to leave so he can "build his income before retiring."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.