Obama Picks New Nominees For FHWA and Army Top Posts

The White House announced on April 2 that President Obama has selected Victor M. Mendez, former director of the Arizona Dept. of Transportation, to lead the Federal Highway Administration, subject to Senate confirmation. The President also chose Jo-Ellen Darcy, a long time Senate aide, as assistant secretary of the Army for civil works—the Pentagon official who oversees the Corps of Engineers—the White House said on March 31. Mendez joined Arizona DOT in 1985 as a transportation engineer and rose through the ranks to become the agency’s director in 2001. He left the top agency job in February after Jan Brewer (R) became governor. Darcy is senior environmental adviser to the Senate Finance Committee. Before coming to the Finance panel staff in 2007, she spent more than a decade as an aide to the Environment and Public Works Committee.