WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown is being relieved of his duties in managing the Bush administration's Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery efforts, The Associated Press has learned. 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, according to two federal officials who declined to be identified before the announcement.
Brown will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad w. Allen, who was overseeing New Orleans relief and rescue efforts.
Brown has been under fire because of the administration's slow response to the magnitude of the hurricane. On Thursday, questions were raised about whether he padded his resume to highlight his previous emergency management background.
Less than an hour before Brown's removal came to light, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Brown had not resigned and the president 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.
Amid escalating calls for Brown's ouster, the White House had insisted publicly for days that Bush retained confidence in his FEMA chief. But there was no question that Brown's star was fading in the administration. In the storm's early days, Brown was the president's primary briefer on its path and the response effort, but by the weekend those duties had been taken over by Brown's boss—Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
Also, while Brown was very visibly by the president's side during Bush's first on-the-ground visit to the hurricane zone last week, he remained behind the scenes—with Chertoff out front—when the president went back on Monday.
Congressional Democrats and state and local officials have been calling for Brown's firing for days. As recently as last Friday, Bush praised his efforts, saying: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
Brown, 50, has headed FEMA since April 2003 and has borne much of the criticism heaped on the administration over its sluggish response to Katrina. Though he has overseen the federal response to several hurricanes and other disasters since coming aboard at FEMA, Brown has been criticized for lacking the kind of experience needed to manage a catastrophe as overwhelming as Katrina.
Katrina, a Category 4 hurricane, devastated New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities. Congress has approved more than $62 billion in emergency aid so far, and costs are expected increase dramatically.
FEMA, the federal government's lead disaster management agency, has been accused of poor planning, a lethargic response, and delaying rapid deployment of aid from the United States and abroad once the magnitude of the damage became apparent.
There were recent signs that Brown's status was about to change. When Vice President Dick Cheney received a briefing in New Orleans on Thursday on recovery efforts by FEMA and other governmental agencies, it was Allen—not Brown—who led the briefing.
And even though Brown was present at least during part of Cheney's visit, he was not seen publicly with the vice president.
