Micheal Brown Removed from Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts
By Damon McCullar
From Reuters:
The director of Federal Emergency Management Agency, Michael Brown, who has been fiercely criticized over the relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina, will be pulled off relief operations in the Gulf Coast, two U.S. officials said on Friday.
They said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was bringing Brown back to Washington and putting Vice Admiral Thad Allen, chief of staff of the U.S. Coast Guard, in charge of operations on the ground.
One official familiar with the decision said Chertoff made the decision and was soon to make the announcement. Brown has been under heavy criticism for a slow emergency response to the hurricane, with some Democrats demanding he be fired.
A senior Homeland Security Department official said: "The secretary will announce that Mike Brown will return to Washington and will continue to be the administrator for FEMA nationally but Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen will take over operations on the ground."
Brown's removal from relief operations on the ground comes a week after Bush publicly applauded his efforts, saying: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job. The FEMA Director is working 24 -- they're working 24 hours a day."
Posted by Damon McCullar at September 9, 2005 01:17 PM
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