Former contracting official now top aide at FEMA

The White House will not seek an ethics waiver for FEMA Chief of Staff Jason McNamara, but he must recuse himself from matters involving his former employer. And that has one watchdog group calling the pick a potential conflict of interest and another turn of the revolving door. Before joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency to lead its day-to-day operations, McNamara was a senior official at Dewberry, a construction and services firm. That company has done $1.3 billion in business with the Department of Homeland Security since 2000, including work for FEMA related to Hurricane Katrina, according to the Project on Government Oversight. Early in his term, President Barack Obama issued a stringent ethics policy barring appointees to work on issues involving their former employers. But McNamara won't require a waiver, said White House spokesman Nick Shapiro. "Jason McNamara is and will be required to continue to recuse himself from all matters relating to Dewberry and Davis, so there are no current plans for a waiver," Shapiro said, referring to a prior name of the company. "McNamara will not attend any meetings, or have any say in any business related to Dewberry and Davis. Additionally, there will be a screening process in place to ensure no Dewberry and Davis business reaches his desk." Before Obama took office, outside experts advised transition officials to be sure that the Homeland Security department broke with what they saw as a culture of cronyism at the agency. The poster child for that became former FEMA director Mike Brown, who had little disaster-related experience and whose handling of Hurricane Katrina was widely criticized. POGO General Counsel Scott Amey questioned potential conflicts that could hamper the work of an otherwise qualified official like McNamara going forward. "Is it wise to have a key senior manager who is conflicted from acting on major disaster decisions because of his prior contractor role?" Amey asked. "With FEMA's history of well-publicized questionable Katrina decisions, why would DHS and FEMA invite more controversy and put a former official from one of its prime contractors in charge of its operations?" he asked. McNamara joins other administration officials bumping up against Obama's ethics policy. Three have received waivers including former Raytheon lobbyist William Lynn, the deputy secretary of defense. Jocelyn Frye, the former general counsel at the National Partnership for Women & Families, received a waiver to become the director of policy and projects in the Office of the First Lady. And Cecilia Muñoz, the former senior vice president for the National Council of La Raza, got one to work as the director of intergovernmental affairs in the Executive Office of the President.