Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding: Perspectives and Observations

In November 2005, the President issued an executive order establishing the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding (OFC) with the broad mission of supporting recovery efforts following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Given their vast size and impact, these storms presented unprecedented rebuilding challenges to federal, state, and local officials which, combined with concerns about the lack of coordination in government's initial response to the disaster, precipitated the creation of the Office of the Federal Coordinator. To assist in Congress' ongoing oversight responsibilities of the recovery of the Gulf Coast, Congress asked us to: (1) describe the functions the Coordinator has performed, (2) obtain stakeholder perspectives regarding the office's operation, and (3) provide observations on issues to be considered for moving forward. We provided Congressional staff with summaries of our findings this past February to answer these questions as well as our observations, including extending the term of OFC. We have since updated some of the information in our briefing, using information that has subsequently become available including the President's decision to extend the operations of OFC through September 30, 2009.