Bostick Confirmed as Corps Chief

After a year-long wait, the Senate has approved Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick to be the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 53rd commanding general. The Senate confirmed Bostick as Corps chief on April 26, more than 12 months after President Obama nominated him.

Bostick's path was slowed by holds put on his nomination by at least two senators, David Vitter (R-La.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.). Bostick has been serving as the Army Deputy Chief of Staff. His earlier assignments have included leading the Corps division in Iraq.

Planning has begun for a ceremony, tentatively in late May, at which Bostick will assume command of the Corps from Maj. Gen. Merdith W.B. "Bo" Temple, acting chief since June 2011. Bostick will face numerous challenges in his new post, including severe budget pressure on the civil-works program and possible new rounds of defense-base closures.

John Doyle, special counsel with law and lobbying firm Jones Walker LLP, says, "We're delighted that he's been confirmed after a wait that was much, much longer than it ever should have been."

Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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