WASHINGTON -- Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- the former presidential candidate who once said he wanted to get rid of the Energy Department -- has been approved to serve as Energy secretary in President Donald Trump's administration, the Associated Press reports.

It was lost on almost no one in politics last month when Trump tapped Perry to take over the very department that Perry forgot during a presidential debate in 2011 while trying to list the three he wanted to eliminate. The mockery amid the appointment news was immediate and brutal. Adding further fuel for quips was Perry's recent stint on Dancing With the Stars.

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