Sept. 15, 2005 – Following the repeal of normal operating procedures for contractors and allegations of cronyism in awarding federal hurricane relief work, the Department of Homeland Security said yesterday that it would dispatch a team of auditors with a mandate to ensure taxpayer money is spent properly, the New York Times reports.
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The investigation, which will reportedly focus largely on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s contract-awarding process, is to be carried out by officials from the Agency’s own parent department, not an independent body.
The announcement came a day after House Democrats called for an independent investigation and amid union charges that the Bush administration has used the relief effort to gut workers’ rights and protections. The Agency has not been forthcoming about how Hurricane Katrina clean-up contracts are being awarded.
Charging that the Bush administration has demonstrated a record of "persistent and costly mismanagement" in awarding no-bid contracts in Iraq and elsewhere, House Democrats sent a letter to United States Comptroller General David M. Walker asking the Government Accountability Office to step in and oversee the contract-awarding process. As recently as March 2004, DHS inspectors found serious flaws in FEMA record keeping, the letter noted.
News reports and reviews by non-governmental organizations have revealed a number of no-bid contracts handed to Bush supporters and allies. Former FEMA director and Bush campaign manager Joseph M. Allbaugh has procured millions in contracts for client companies.
Other companies that have won federal clean-up and relief contracts include $29.8 million to Vice President Dick Cheney’s former employer, Halliburton, and $100 million to Flour, a high-dollar Republican Party donor.
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According to the Times, DHS Inspector General Richard L. Skinner, a former FEMA official, is sending a team of 30 auditors to Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana to monitor no-bid and other contracts. Skinner declined to discuss specifics, though he told the Times he would look at contracts awarded to politically-connected companies.
