 AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari David Paulison at FEMA’s headquarters in Washington in October of 2005. |
By JEANNE MESERVE
CNN
WASHINGTON, D.C. — David Paulison, the acting director of the beleaguered Federal Emergency Management Agency, is expected to be nominated to take the position permanently, government sources said Thursday.
Paulison took the reins of FEMA after the firing of Mike Brown, who was blamed by the administration for the agency’s inept response to Hurricane Katrina.
The same government sources said the administration will tap Coast Guard Vice Adm. Harvey Johnson to be Paulison’s deputy. As commander of Coast Guard operations in the Pacific, Johnson was active in the response to Katrina, and led Coast Guard tsunami relief efforts in Southeast Asia.
With hurricane season beginning June 1, the administration has been under heavy pressure to fill vacancies at the agency.