President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Adam Telle, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, will temporarily replace Dan Driscoll as the Army’s top civilian leader following Driscoll’s abrupt resignation from the role earlier this week.
Trump lauded Telle as "a Great Patriot, who is respected by all” in a Truth Social post, saying Telle would take over as acting Army Secretary “effective immediately.”
The news comes after Driscoll, who Trump nominated as Army Secretary last year after returning to the White House, stepped down amid reports of tension between him and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth praised Trump’s announcement on Thursday, calling Telle “strong and whip smart.”
“Huge congrats to Adam,” Hegseth said in a post on X. “He is indeed a great Patriot — and will be an immediate asset to the @USArmy.”
Telle was sworn into his current role as the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works last August, becoming the second person nominated by the President to an Army position in Trump's second term to be confirmed by the Senate, according to Telle's biography on the U.S. military’s website.
In that position, Telle has served as a civilian official in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, an agency that builds and maintains infrastructure, including dams. According to his bio, he has had “principal authority to establish policy direction and to provide supervision of all aspects” of the civil works tasks that the agency performs for the Army, including projects aimed at reducing flood and storm damage.
Before being appointed to his current role in the Trump Administration, Telle served as the chief of staff to Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee from 2021-2025, according to Legistorm. He previously worked under another Republican, then-Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, for about a decade from 2007-2017, and held various roles in the office, including deputy chief of staff and legislative director, according to Legistorm. While serving in Cochran’s office, he helped with the lawmaker’s work on Hurricane Katrina recovery, according to his Army bio.
Telle also served on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee that was responsible for overseeing the Department of Homeland Security’s budget, according to his bio.
During Trump’s first term in the Oval Office, Telle served on the White House Office of Legislative Affairs’ Senate team and “was President Trump’s chief liaison to the Senate,” according to his Army bio.
Telle will step into his new role in the Army at a time of turmoil both abroad and within the Department of Defense.
The war in Iran, which began on Feb. 28, has now stretched on for longer than six months and has sparked backlash from many Americans.
And Telle will also be taking on the new position amid upheaval within the U.S. military’s senior ranks. About 20 military and civilian leaders have been ousted or have resigned since Hegseth took over the Department of Defense, including Driscoll earlier this week. Even some Republicans have criticized Hegseth for the chaos at the agency, including Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who has called on Trump to replace the Defense Secretary.
“[Hegseth] is creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks,” Tillis said in a social media post this week. “I urge the President to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it.”
