Embattled FEMA Director Michael Brown Resigns

Director Says Focus Has to Be on Agency, Not Him

By Spencer S. Hsu and Daniela Deane

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 12, 2005; 5:42 PM

Michael D. Brown resigned this afternoon as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, becoming the first high-profile Bush administration official to step down amid public criticism of the government's response to Hurricane Katrina.

Brown was relieved of command of the recovery effort Friday and recalled to Washington from Louisiana by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who replaced Brown with U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen.