President-elect Donald Trump's administration is reportedly planning massive cuts to the Energy Department's budget, and former Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas), Trump's nominee for energy secretary, was faced with the tough question of how he'd push back at his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) asked for Perry's commitment to fight for the department's research budget, telling Perry that Trump's administration would be "cutting the legs out from under you" if they made the "devastating" and "absolutely nuts" budget cuts.
Perry cited his "rather interesting background" of "defending budgets," but didn't exactly commit one way or the other. In fact, all Perry said in response to King's question was that he knows "what the Department of Energy should be good at." Earlier in the hearing, Perry joked that maybe Trump's team would "forget" the cuts they'd proposed.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Can the UK avoid the Trump tariff bombshell?Today's Big Question President says UK is 'way out of line' but it may still escape worst of US trade levies
-
Beyoncé's record-breaking night at the GrammysTalking Point Long-denied Album of the Year win rights a 'historic sense of grievance'
-
Crossword: February 3, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own roomSpeed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tourSpeed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamationSpeed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box officeSpeed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appealSpeed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
-
OJ Simpson, star athlete tried for murder, dead at 76Speed Read The former football hero and murder suspect lost his battle with cancer
