Smooth ride for Perry’s possible successor
Brouillette distances himself from turmoil in the White House
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Rick Perry survived his confirmation hearing Thursday — and probably will sail into the top spot at the Energy Department.
Dan Brouillette, the department’s No. 2 official, was able to distance himself from the Ukraine controversy that has engulfed the last days in office for his boss.
Brouillette, a former official in the George W. Bush administration who also worked as the top lobbyist for Ford Motor Co., testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee as rancor over the possible impeachment of Trump grips the other side of the Capitol.
With his wife and several children in tow, Brouillette said his work with Ukrainian officials was limited to helping the developing ex-Soviet state with technical matters concerning its pipelines and electric grid.
“I have not been involved in any of the conversations that are related to the House’s inquiry,” he said, adding that he has enough to do as deputy secretary overseeing the day-to-day work of the 14,000-employee department.
“That along with nine kids keeps me pretty busy.”
The hearing was notably amiable at a time of partisan division over whether to remove Trump from office for allegedly pressuring Ukraine to open an investigation into a political rival.
Perry faces questions about the degree of his involvement in the president’s push to have Ukraine investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who had served on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company. There is no evidence the former Texas governor did anything untoward.
In a July 25 phone call, Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to do him a “favor” and investigate the debunked idea that Biden pressed Ukraine to fire a prosecutor because he was investigating his son.
Separately, the Washington Post and the Associated Press have also reported that Perry lobbied to install new board members on the Ukrainian stateowned gas company Naftogaz. Perry’s spokeswoman has said those conversations were simply part of his effort to change Ukraine’s energy sector after years of corruption. But two allies of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy
Giuliani, who are both now indicted on charges of campaign finance violations, had been pushing for a similar outcome.
Brouillette said he didn’t know about any of those lobbying efforts. “I’m not aware of the conversations that Secretary Perry had or did not have with Naftogaz directly,” he said. “I wasn’t party to that.”
Perry has not been accused of wrongdoing and says he did not know about Trump’s effort to have Ukraine open up a probe that could have been politically
damaging to Biden, even though William Taylor, the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, testified Wednesday that Perry was part of an “irregular, informal” back channel to Ukrainian officials. Perry plans to leave his post Dec. 1.
However, Perry hasn’t formally told his side of the story. That’s because he and other Trump officials refuse to comply with congressional subpoenas at the advice of White House lawyers.
During the hearing, Brouillette said he would follow a congressional request for information “assuming the subpoena was properly served.” But he added that he would consult with White House lawyers before doing so, suggesting the he, too, would be more inclined not to come before House Democrats if summoned in the impeachment probe.
The rest of the hearing was filled with cordial questioning about the regular business of the sprawling Energy Department, touching on topics such as the cleanup and storage of nuclear waste and the development of new technologies such as carbon capture and advanced batteries.
After the hearing, both Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Joe Manchin of West Virginia — the top Republican and Democrat on the panel — issued statements enthusiastically endorsing Brouillette. That support suggests he will be easily confirmed, just like he was two years ago when he was elevated to his current post in a 79-17 decision.
“This is an enormous job,” Manchin said. “But I thank Mr. Brouillette, and I know he is up to the task.”