WASHINGTON-The assistant secretary of the Army, former Mississippi Rep. Mike Parker, was fired Wednesday after he criticized the Bush administration’s proposed spending cuts for Army Corps of Engineers’ water projects, members of Congress said.
The Defense Department issued a brief statement saying Parker had resigned.
“The department appreciates Mr. Parker’s contributions and wishes him the best in his future endeavors,” it said. The statement made no mention of the reason for Parker’s departure.
“Apparently he was asked to resign,” said Rep. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., a member of the Hall Appropriations Committee’s energy and water development subcommittee that oversees the Corps’ budget.
Parker, 52, was a Mississippi congressman from 1989 through 1998, when he resigned to run for governor. He was narrowly defeated.
He switched from the Democratic to Republican Party in 1995.
