The Washington Post reported that five of the top eight officials in Fema had no previous experience in disaster management - but they had extensive backgrounds within Republican politics when they were appointed to their posts by the Bush administration.
Time magazine claimed the official biography of Mr Brown - which stated that he had worked as an "assistant city manager with emergency services oversight" in the Edmond, Oklahoma - exaggerated his record.
Officials said he had been an assistant to the city manager, not assistant city manager. "The assistant is more like an intern," Time was told.