FEMA Head Michael Brown Fired -- Sort Of

WaPo:
"With Michael D. Brown, the embattled public face of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, taking harsh criticism for the slow federal response to Hurricane Katrina, the secretary of homeland security this week assigned a top Coast Guard official to help bail him out."

"Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, the Coast Guard's chief of staff, was assigned on Monday to be Brown's deputy and to take over operational control of the search-and-rescue and recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast. The unprecedented task of coordinating the massive effort was handed off to a leader and expert who was described by colleagues as unflappable, engaging and intensely organized."

Michael Barone's take:
"I suspect, Bush told Chertoff to bring in someone with hands-on emergency management experience to do Brown's job for him. In effect though not in name, if my reading between the lines is right, Michael Brown has been fired."