page_title: Michael D. Brown
section_title: Hurricane Katrina
hierarchical_section_title: Michael D. Brown / FEMA controversies and criticism / Hurricane Katrina
caption_attribution_description: New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: Trash refrigerator on curb with graffiti "Heck of a job, Brownie". Sarcastic reference to George W. Bush's words of praise for w:FEMA director w:Michael D.Brown aka "Brownie". Photo by Infrogmation
context_page_description: Michael DeWayne Brown served as the first undersecretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response, a division of the Department of Homeland Security. This position is generally referred to as the director or administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He was appointed in January 2003 by President George W. Bush and resigned following his controversial handling of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. Brown first had been appointed as general counsel at FEMA. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks President Bush nominated Brown to become deputy director of FEMA. Brown currently hosts a radio talk show on 850 KOA in Denver, Colorado.
context_section_description: In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many Democratic politicians called for Brown to be fired immediately, including California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, New York Senators Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, Colorado Senator Ken Salazar, Michigan Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and Senator Debbie Stabenow, Louisiana State Rep. Peter Sullivan, Nevada Senator Harry Reid, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin.
  Republican politicians such as Senator Trent Lott have also criticized Brown's leadership of FEMA. Brown's performance was defended, however, by Republicans such as former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Florida Governor Jeb Bush and former Presidential speechwriter Pat Buchanan.
  "Heck of a job" soon became sarcastic slang for things done by politically connected cronies or general incompetence.
  On August 29, 2005, five hours after the hurricane hit land, Brown made his first request for Homeland Security rescue workers to be deployed to the disaster area only after two days of training. He also told fire and rescue departments outside affected areas to refrain from providing trucks or emergency workers without a direct appeal from state or local governments in order to avoid coordination problems and the accusation of overstepping federal authority.
  On September 1, 2005, Brown told Soledad O'Brien of CNN that he was unaware that New Orleans' officials had housed thousands of evacuees, who quickly ran out of food and water, in the Convention Center—even though major news outlets had been reporting on the evacuees' plight for at least a day. He also criticized those that were stuck in New Orleans as those "who chose not to evacuate, who chose not to leave the city" (disobeying a mandatory evacuation order).
  On September 2, 2005, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley stated that he pledged firefighters, police officers, health department workers, and other resources on behalf of the city, but was only asked to send one tank truck.
  Gail Collins, at the time editor of The New York Times' editorial page, called Brown "legendary as a disaster in his own right", and on Thanksgiving week in 2005, Brown was No. 1 on CNN's "Political Turkey of the Year" list for his handling of Katrina.
  On August 28, 2007, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards proposed what he called "Brownie's Law" requiring that "qualified people, not political hacks", lead key federal agencies.
caption: Post-Katrina, many New Orleanians added graffiti to their trashed appliances set on curbs to be hauled away. Here a refrigerator inscription satirizes Bush's "Heck of a job" praise for Brown.
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