Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees carried out oversight of agency contracts issued during disasters when they were not qualified to do so, according to a recent report from congressional watchdog the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Every year, FEMA grants billions of dollars to contracts for responding to natural disasters, such as to provide temporary housing to affected individuals and other aid.
The GAO reviewed 15 contracts from three disasters—the Kentucky floods, Hurricane Ian, and the Maui wildfires. FEMA’s contractual obligations for these disasters were over $1 billion. The GAO found that “some FEMA staff performed oversight without the required authorization or certification which is not in accordance with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidance or FEMA policy,” the agency said in the Feb. 6 report….