Former FEMA officials testify at Senate Cmte on Katrina

In a strange twist of fate former FEMA Director Michael Brown testified to the Senate Government Reform Committee on the role of the federal agency on Katrina. Republicans blasted Brown for the agencies incompetence. Democrats defended Brown saying that the White House should have been better prepared. Brown also disputed the timeline the White House has claimed in response to Katrina. Brown said that part of the problem was that since FEMA was under the Homeland Security Department that it was difficult to get anything done. He also said that he was in the process of getting FEMA back on track when Katrina hit New Orleans. FEMA was originally a separate federal agency until the Department of Homeland Security was created. An odd element to this drama was whether the White House was exerting executive privelege. This privelege is usually exerted when a presidential advisor testifies before congress. This is so that advisors can be candid with the president without public scrutiny. The White House did not exert executive privelege because Brown was no longer a federal employee.