Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Sunday that he is not interested in running for the White House in 2012, even though he will be more visible as the new chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

“I don’t want to be president of the United States,” Perry said on “FOX News Sunday.” Perry, a rising star in the conservative movement, said that he is more interested in sending more power back to the states, which would make his current job even more important.

The Texas Republican has been an aggressive critic of the Obama administration and even once suggested at a tea party rally that Texas might consider seceding from the country because of unhappiness with policies in Washington. Perry was elected to a third term as governor in November.

Several Republicans are jockeying for the nomination to take on President Barack Obama in 2012. But others are taking their names out of the competition, at least for now. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was not interested in running for the White House in two years.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, asked on “FOX News Sunday” about her future political aspirations, said she would not be pursuing elected office.