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FEMA chief Brown resigns

BY CRAIG GORDON | WASHINGTON BUREAU

September 13, 2005

WASHINGTON - Sent packing from hurricane duty three days ago, embattled FEMA chief Michael Brown quit the agency altogether yesterday, saying he didn't want the controversy dogging him to take away from FEMA's efforts.

The White House moved quickly to replace Brown with acting director David Paulison, a 30-year firefighting veteran who heads the U.S. Fire Administration - a pick that appeared designed to eliminate any question of whether Brown's immediate replacement had the sort of major emergency-management experience that Brown lacked.

"As I told the president, it is important that I leave now to avoid further distraction from the ongoing mission of FEMA," Brown said in a statement.

Brown also told The Associated Press that he resigned "in the best interest of the agency and best interest of the president."

Brown's resignation came as little surprise after what amounted to a public sacking by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who on Friday removed Brown from on-the-scene management of Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts and sent him back to Washington. Senior administration officials then acknowledged that the move might hasten Brown's plan to leave FEMA after the hurricane season.

President George W. Bush initially ducked questions about Brown's resignation yesterday on his third and most extensive tour of the Gulf. "Maybe you know something I don't know. I've been working," Bush told reporters in Gulfport, Miss.

Bush later spoke to Chertoff on Air Force One as he returned to Washington from the region.White House press secretary Scott McClellan later said Bush had been told of Brown's resignation earlier, but didn't know it had been made public. Asked whether Bush sought Brown's resignation, McClellan said, "This was Mike Brown's decision, and he respects that decision."

Still, a new poll shows many Americans are even more dissatisfied with the federal response to Katrina than a week ago, and it's costing Bush support.

Bush's job approval rating is the lowest of his presidency, 42 percent, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll.

A slight majority of Americans - 54 percent - say they disapprove of Bush's handling of the hurricane, up seven points since Sept. 2, four days after the storm hit. The public gives low marks to state and local officials as well.

With Brown standing silently by his side, Chertoff announced Brown's move back to Washington on a day when Newsday and Time magazine ran stories saying that Brown's public resume information was inconsistent with his actual work experience.

Even with Brown's departure, several top management positions in FEMA remain filled with people who have Bush campaign experience but little or no emergency management experience. Both the No. 2 and No. 3 officials at FEMA, Acting Deputy Director Patrick Rhode and Acting Deputy Chief of Staff Brooks Altshuler, came to the agency with no disaster management experience but formerly worked on Bush's advance team. The new acting FEMA director, Paulison, has led the U.S. Fire Administration since December, 2001, according to his FEMA biography. Paulison served as chief of the Miami-Dade Country Fire Rescue Department, overseeing 1,900 personnel and a $200 million operating budget. Paulison was in the news in February 2003 for recommending that Americans stock up on duct tape and plastic sheeting in case of a chemical attack.