Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been added to a core group within the National Security Council in a shakeup of members announced on Wednesday.

Perry, the secretary of energy, was one of several officials added to the principals committee, the primary group of policy-makers for national security.

Adding Perry to the NSC’s principals committee now brings the cabinet official in charge of the nation’s nuclear stockpile into the fold. The lion’s share of the Energy Department’s budget goes toward the National Nuclear Security Administration, which deals with the military application of nuclear science. 

Perry unsuccessfully ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016 and in 2012.