By Marci Greenstein After a four year stalemate, it took the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals only weeks to decide that the federal government was responsible for rebuilding Charity Hospital in New Orleans, which was virtually destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, according to a report by Kevin Sack in the New York Times.  The contract appeals board was established as part of the Defense Department’s budget for Fiscal Year 2006 to decide disputes between government contractors and government agencies.  It is specifically charged with resolving disputes between FEMA and applicants for FEMA assistance for damage caused by Hurricane Katrina and Rita.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which experienced major flooding in August 2008, has gotten less help from the government than citizens believe the region is due, according to this report by Susan Saulny of the New York Times, which includes the following poignant words from a local government official: “We really feel ...

Steve Vogel of the Washington Post writes up a Government Accountability Office report on FEMA's reform efforts. The agency was told to overhaul its emergency preparedness efforts after the Hurricane Katrina super-debacle and in many respects they have. But the problem is that ...

FEMA had previously told Hurricane Katrina victims still living in government trailers that they would have to leave those trailers by the end of May. But that's no longer the case, reports the New York Times' Shaila Dewan: many of the 3,446 trailers still in use ...

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter has lifted his hold on the nomination of Craig Fugate to head FEMA, reports Government Executive. Fugate has "broad bipartisan support" so he should be confirmed whenever the Senate feels like it. With a newly nominated ...

When a federal agency spokesman starts off a remark with "All I can say is...", you can be pretty sure he's telling the truth.  Because neither he nor his colleagues have been using the brains God gave them to think about an alternative.

According to Shaila Dewan in the New ...

Seemingly years ago (but really only two months) Barack Obama pegged Craig Fugate to turn around FEMA, which doubles as federal emergency response agency and enduring symbol of Bush administration mismanagement. So with hurricane season a month away is Fugate turning FEMA around?

Give me a break! ...

Washington pushed hard to help North Dakota and Minnesota deal with the rising waters of the Red River. Monica Davey of the New York Times brings information and insights about all the outsiders ready to pitch in:

Along with teams from the Coast Guard, the Department of Health and Human ...

W. Craig Fugate, the head of emergency management for the state of Florida, will now head emergency response for the country. The Washington Post's Spencer S. Hsu reports that Obama has picked Fugate to run FEMA, which has dually operated over the past three ...

Starting a day or two after Valentine's Day, Beltway Outsider will kick into overdrive as this blogger will have a permanent perch in Chicago, facilitating the necessary get-a-load-of-Washington-! perspective. But for the next week, I'm in Los Angeles, Pacific time zone, using the most counter-intuitive public transit system in the ...