Kennedy and Gregg Differ on Powell for Katrina Relief Coordinator
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 – After joining forces several weeks ago to propose the appointment of a federal coordinator for the Gulf Coast reconstruction, Senators Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) have split over the man President Bush has tapped for the job: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Donald Powell.
Kennedy said he was unhappy with the choice and described Powell’s lack of disaster management experience as a liability.
“This appointment is business as usual and shows that the Gulf recovery is not a top priority for the president,” Kennedy said in a press release. “Mr. Powell may be an accomplished banker and political fundraiser, but according to the Administration, he has no disaster-recovery experience. I find this terribly troubling — especially given the tragic missteps of Michael Brown.” In the face of criticism for his handling of the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort, Brown resigned as chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Gregg, however, said that although he has never worked with Powell, he expected him to be successful in his efforts to manage the hurricane recovery and enforce fiscal discipline on disaster spending.
“I don’t think disaster experience is key,” Gregg said. “I think management experience is key. It is appropriate that the President has moved fairly quickly to put in place someone with an accounting and auditing record.”
Powell said he plans to resign from his post as chairman of the FDIC to focus on his new role in the Gulf Coast.
“In my role as FDIC chairman, I had the opportunity to tour the area and see firsthand what the communities in the Gulf region face,” Powell said in press release. “I look forward to this new challenge and appreciate the trust that the President has in me.”
Powell traveled to the Gulf Coast in September and helped coordinate the effort to restore banking operations. His extensive financial management experience will enable him to coordinate the activities of the federal, state and local agencies that will converge in the rebuilding of the region, according to FDIC spokesman David Barr.
“He will be able to navigate the bureaucratic roadblocks,” Barr said. “He created two banks from scratch; he knows how to organize things.”
Powell will be reporting to the president through Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff; an arrangement Kennedy has a problem with.
“I am also concerned that the person responsible for directing federal efforts will not be reporting directly to the president at a Cabinet-level position,” Kennedy said. “As I have called for, the redevelopment efforts should be led by a nonpartisan leader, at the Cabinet level, who can cut through the red tape to ensure that federal funds are deployed swiftly, efficiently and effectively.”
Gregg said that he thought Powell’s financial management experience would be a boon in coordinating the work of the agencies working to rebuild the region.
“It is not so much that he needs to cut through the bureaucracy,” Gregg said. “He needs to make it work for him.”
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