The White House announced Tuesday that Chris Caldwell of Little Rock will be nominated to serve as federal co-chair of the Delta Regional Authority. Caldwell is a staffer for U.S. Senator John Boozman and has worked on campaigns for other Arkansas Republicans, including former Governor Mike Huckabee.
The federal agency hasn’t had a leader since
Trump’s proposed budget calls for cutting all funding to the Delta Regional Authority, which is tasked with economic development in a 252-county region of the Mississippi Delta spanning eight states. But as Jacob Kauffman at KUAR reported in August, that’s unlikely to actually happen. Cutting federal spending in the abstract realm of a White House budget proposal is one thing; it’s an entirely different matter when Congress starts making decisions about actually diverting money from individual members’ districts and states.
Here’s the Trump administration press release:
Mr. Caldwell currently serves as the Director of Special Projects for Senator John Boozman (R-AR). Mr. Caldwell was the Campaign Manager for Senator Boozman’s 2016 re-election campaign, as well as the Political Director for Boozman’s 2010 Senate campaign. He has also served on several other campaigns, including Governor Mike Huckabee’s 2007 presidential bid and Senator Tim Hutchinson’s 2002 Senate campaign. Beyond his political and government service, Mr. Caldwell has held various roles in the private sector and is an active volunteer in his community. He graduated with a B.A. in Communications from the J. William Fulbright School at the University of Arkansas. Mr. Caldwell resides in Little Rock with his wife Ashley and their two children.