Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle has launched a 27-part efficiency initiative for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ civil works program, aiming to cut red tape, speed project delivery and sharpen how the agency communicates about what the president’s budget does—and does not—fund.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ civil works program is the target of a new Pentagon-backed efficiency push that officials say is designed to reduce delays and paperwork tied to water resources projects such as navigation improvements, dredging and other infrastructure work.
Adam Telle, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, announced the initiative—branded “Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork”—on Feb. 23, 2026, according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers news release. The plan is organized into 27 initiatives grouped under five broad categories: maximizing delivery of national infrastructure, cutting red tape, focusing on efficiency, improving transparency and accountability, and prioritization.
In the release, Telle said the effort is intended to refocus the Corps on core missions, shorten permitting timelines and reduce “extraneous regulations and paperwork” that can slow project delivery. The Corps also said the policy changes are aimed at increasing transparency and accountability for project partners, the public and elected officials who make annual funding decisions.
The initiative is separate from the Corps’ emergency response missions, with the Corps stating that the changes do not affect its support for natural and manmade disasters.
Telle discussed the initiative and broader criticisms of how the Corps markets and manages its workload in an interview published by The Daily Wire, including concerns about how federal budgeting information is communicated to potential project sponsors. The Daily Wire article also quoted Telle criticizing what he described as an “out there to market” posture—encouraging more work rather than concentrating on delivering nationally strategic priorities.
On project costs, the Daily Wire report cited Telle’s criticism of the Port Everglades navigation project in South Florida. However, publicly available Corps project material describes a markedly smaller cost range than the multi‑billion‑dollar figure cited in the Daily Wire interview: a Corps fact sheet for Port Everglades lists an estimated total cost of about $517.6 million (with an estimated federal share of about $367.2 million), and notes the project includes channel widening and deepening as well as environmental mitigation and related analysis.
Separately, the Trump administration has promoted broader cost-cutting efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) within the Defense Department. The Pentagon said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced $5.1 billion in contract cuts on April 10, 2025, following an earlier announcement on March 20, 2025, of $580 million in cuts. In the April announcement, Hegseth said the savings would be redirected to priorities such as health care for service members and their families, and he specifically criticized high-cost business process consulting.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has also argued publicly that bureaucratic inefficiencies can slow innovation and put soldiers at risk, calling for faster delivery of needed capabilities.
