Perry chosen to run a department he once forgot he wanted to eliminate

Rick Perry has been chosen to lead a department that he once forgot he wanted to eliminate.

The former Texas governor was picked by President-elect Donald Trump Tuesday to run the Energy Department, a federal agency that played a role in sinking his 2012 presidential campaign.

Perry was competing in a 2011 Republican primary debate when he begun listing federal agencies he’d elimate in elected president:

“It’s three agencies of government, when I get there, that are gone. Commerce, education, and the um, what’s the third one there, let’s see,” he said.

Pressed by a moderator on whether he could remember the third agency, Perry checked his notes and searched, but ultimately could not come up with the name.

“The third agency of government that I would do away with,” he said. “Let’s see, the third one, I can’t. The third one I can’t. I’m sorry. Oops.”

The “oops” moment ricocheted around the media landscape at the time and was cited for sinking Perry’s chances at the Republican nomination.

“This debate will be remembered for one thing and one thing only, and Rick Perry can’t remember what it is,” Stephen Colbert, who was among the many comedians poking fun at Perry, said at the time.

Perry dropped out of the race before the South Carolina primary a few months later.

What a difference four years makes.