Late breaking news: FEMA director Michael Brown being replaced. That is a surprise
and a little late.
FEMA chief Brown taken off relief effort duties on the scene; questions about resume surface Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown (search) will return to Washington to oversee national Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Friday.
Brown is being sent back to Washington from Baton Rouge, where he was the primary official overseeing the federal government's response to the disaster. Brown will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, who was overseeing New Orleans relief and rescue efforts.
"The effort to respond and recover from Hurricane Katrina (search) is moving forward. We are preparing to move from the immediate emergency response phase to the next phase of operations," Chertoff said during a press conference. "Importantly, we must have seamless interaction with military forces as we move forward with our critical work in New Orleans and the surrounding parishes. At the same time, we are still in hurricane season and need to be prepared to deal effectively with the possibility of future hurricanes and other disasters."
Brown will continue to head up operations but from Washington, whereas Allen will be in charge of field operations.
When one reporter asked Brown, standing in the background, whether the move was the "first step" in his resignation, Chertoff stressed that he already explained the motivation behind the move.
"Michael Brown has done everything he possibly could to coordinate the federal response to this unprecedented challenge," Chertoff said.
Brown did not make a statement or answer questions.
Less than an hour before the shakeup came to light, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Brown had not resigned and President Bush had not asked for his resignation. McClellan did not directly answer a question about whether the president had full confidence in Brown.
"We appreciate all those who are working round the clock, and that's the way I would answer it," he said.
"This is a fluid situation … we have to have the best people in the right place at the right time," Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R- Fla., told FOX News.
In an earlier telephone interview with The Associated Press, Brown said the move was not a demotion and that Chertoff made the call.
"I'm going to go home and walk my dog and hug my wife and, maybe get a good Mexican meal and a stiff margarita and a full night's sleep. And then I'm going to go right back to FEMA and continue to do all I can to help these victims," Brown said. "This story's not about me. This story's about the worst disaster of the history of our country that stretched every government to its limit and now we have to help these victims.
Asked if the move was a demotion, Brown said: "No. No. I'm still the director of FEMA."
But a source close to Brown, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the FEMA director had been considering leaving after the hurricane season ended in November and that Friday's action virtually assures his departure.
related info:
FEMA director's qualifications questionedTop U.S. disaster official Michael Brown, under fire over the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, cited prior emergency-management experience in an official biography but his duties were "more like an intern," Time magazine reported.
Brown's biography on the Federal Emergency Management Agency Web site says he had once served as an "assistant city manager with emergency services oversight," and a White House news release in 2001 said Brown had worked for the city of Edmond, Oklahoma in the 1970s "overseeing the emergency-services division."
However, a city spokeswoman told the magazine Brown had actually worked as "an assistant to the city manager."
"The assistant is more like an intern," Claudia Deakins told the magazine. "Department heads did not report to him." Time posted the articleexternal link on its Web site late on Thursday.
Brown, a lawyer, was appointed as FEMA's general counsel in 2001 and became head of the agency in 2003. The work in Edmond is the only previous disaster-related experience cited in the biographies. Brown served as commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association before taking the FEMA job.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Connecticut, had cited Brown's Edmond experience as "particularly useful" for FEMA during a hearing in 2002.
Critics, including some Republicans, have blasted Brown for delays and missteps in the federal government's response to Katrina's deadly and devastating assault on New Orleans and the U.S. Gulf Coast last week. Some have demanded his ouster.
Bush last week gave Brown a word of support, saying "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
This week, Bush put the U.S. Coast Guard's chief of staff in charge of the federal recovery effort in New Orleans and gave Vice President Dick Cheney the job of cutting through bureaucratic delays.
Post: Top FEMA officials lack experience
The Washington Post reported on Friday that five of eight top FEMA officials had come to their jobs with virtually no experience in handling disasters. The agency's top three leaders, including Brown, had ties to Bush's 2000 presidential campaign or the White House advance operation.
Former Edmond city manager Bill Dashner recalled for Time that Brown had worked for him as an administrative assistant while attending Central State University.
"Mike used to handle a lot of details. Every now and again I'd ask him to write me a speech. He was very loyal. He was always on time. He always had on a suit and a starched white shirt," Dashner told Time.
Edmond's population is about 70,000.
In response to the Time report, FEMA issued a statement that took issue with elements related to an unofficial biography, and described his job in Edmond as "assistant to the city manager."
Brown "remains focused on helping Americans through the worst natural disaster in history," FEMA said.
