President Donald Trump tapped the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ top official to be the service’s senior civilian leader, bypassing the Army’s No. 2 civilian to promote a former congressional staffer.
Trump announced his choice via Truth Social on Thursday evening.
“I am pleased to announce that Adam Telle, the current Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, will become Acting Secretary of the Army, effective immediately,” Trump wrote, adding, “He is a Great Patriot, who is respected by all.”
Telle’s selection comes after former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who championed modernization and acquisition reform, resigned this week amid tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. His departure is the latest in a series of high-profile firings and leadership changes under Hegseth’s tenure.
The unconventional move sidestepped Michael Odabal, the Army’s second-highest-ranking civilian leader, in favor of Telle, a Northport, Alabama, native who most recently held the formal position of 14th assistant secretary of the Army (civil works). Normal conventions dictate that Odabal would have taken Driscoll’s place.
Telle began overseeing the Corps of Engineers in August 2025. In that position, he set the agenda for projects ranging from commercial waterways and storm damage reduction to Clean Water Act permitting. Before that, Telle served as chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee, and during Trump’s first term, as the president’s chief liaison to the Senate.
He was also the chief staff member on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee in charge of managing the budget of the Department of Homeland Security.
Previously, Telle spent a decade in the office of Thad Cochran, a former U.S. senator from Mississippi, where he worked on Hurricane Katrina recovery.
Telle is married with two children and has degrees in computer science and communications from Mississippi State University. According to his official Army biography, Telle “spends his free time enjoying the Gulf of America.”
Hegseth lauded his appointment on social media, calling Telle, “strong and whip smart,” in a statement on X.
Eve Sampson is a reporter and former Army officer. She has covered conflict across the world, writing for The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Associated Press.
