(Photo from Senate Committee hearing livestream)
- Adam Telle, a former Cochran staffer, could be pivotal in the Army Corps of Engineers’ work with Mississippi on the Yazoo Backwater Area Water Management Project.
A former member of U.S. Senator Thad Cochran’s staff could soon be heading up the Army Corps of Engineers.
Adam Telle has been nominated by President Donald Trump to be Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.
If confirmed by the Senate, Telle would play a key role in carrying out the administration’s priorities as it relates to the ports, waterways, and flood control infrastructure maintained by the Corps across our nation.
Telle would likely also be pivotal in how the Corps continues to work with Mississippi on the Yazoo Backwater Area Water Management Project.
Just last week, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was directing $136.5 million in Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations to Mississippi for work on 30 projects, including $32 million for mitigation requirements and pre-construction project planning for the Yazoo Backwater Area Water Management Project.
The long-sought flood control project for the Yazoo Backwater Area received a Record of Decision in January putting in place the legal means for the Army Corps to proceed with the preconstruction, engineering and design phase of the flood control project initially authorized by Congress in 1941 for a 630,000-acre region of the South Delta.
Telle is a graduate of Mississippi State University. He served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Legislative Director, and the top national security staffer for Senator Cochran for 10 years. He moved to the Mississippi Senator’s office after beginning his service on Capitol Hill in Alabama Senator Richard Shelby’s office.
Telle then went on to lead the Senate team at the White House’s Office of Legislative Affairs during the first Trump Administration. There, he managed all national security and appropriations matters.
Telle joined the staff of Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty in 2021 as Chief of Staff.
During Telle’s confirmation hearing last week before the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, Hagerty said he relies on Telle’s expertise, experience, and judgment every day.
“I have seen Adam bring people together to solve problems, mentor and grow staff, and provide thoughtful and effective strategic direction on some of the toughest problems facing our nation,” Hagerty said. “In short, Adam is just the leader that our nation needs in the Pentagon. His native roots, work ethic, and intelligence make him more than qualified.”
Telle has also appeared before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
His nomination will go before the full Senate once both committees have reported out favorably and the Majority Leader sets the vote.
