Introduction
FOIA responses to POGO ’s January 2006 request for Katrina purchase card information
POGO on Purchase Cards
Government Information on Purchase Cards
Congress
News Articles
Contract Oversight - Complete Katrina Archive


Introduction

Pro-contractor advocates in the White House and Congress have aggressively pushed for years to weaken oversight of federal spending. When the Katrina relief bill passed in September 2005, they got one of their long standing wishes; an increase in the maximum amount that federal employees can spend on their government-issued purchase cards. With no debate on the issue, the threshold was lifted overnight to $250,000. In recent years, government purchase card spending has grown quickly to its current level of $16 billion. Along with that growth has come extensive attention by the Congress, fraud investigators, and the media as stories of fraud and abuse have proliferated.

FOIA responses to POGO ’s January 2006 request for Katrina purchase card information
FBI

POGO ON PURCHASE CARDS

POGO Investigative Report - Federal Contracting: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina, August 28, 2006.
In August 2005, a tropical storm gathered strength and inched its way toward the United States.  After reaching a nearly unprecedented level of strength, the now-Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, destroying houses, businesses, and critical infrastructure.  In some cases, relief efforts started before Katrina hit landfall. The federal government has so far appropriated approximately $120 billion to respond to the relief, recovery, and reconstruction needs of the hurricane victims.  POGO has identified several systemic failures in, and evaporating oversight controls of, the federal contracting process and recommends that government contracting laws and regulations need to be strengthened because of: 1. Poor Planning; 2. Inadequate Competition; 3. Lack of Accountability; and 4. Minimal Transparency.

POGO Alert - GAO Report Echoes POGO’s Concerns with the DHS Katrina Purchase Card Program, July 19, 2006.

POGO Alert - White House Backs Down on $250K Government Purchase Card Limit, October 3, 2005.

POGO's Letter to Senator Collins (R-ME), Chair, Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, detailing government contracting concerns and recommendations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, September 16, 2005.

POGO Alert - Katrina Relief Bill: Contractor Pigs at the Trough, September 8, 2005 .

POGO Alert - Army Purchase Card Used for Escort Service, July 17, 2002.

Government Information on Purchase Cards

Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, "Emergency Response To Hurricane Katrina: Use Of The Government Purchase Card," May 2007.

Follow this link to the Office of Management and Budget’s guidance to federal agencies that effectively returns the purchase limit for government credit card purchases to pre-hurricane levels. October 3. 2005.

Implementing Management Controls to Support Increased Micro-purchase Threshold for Hurricane Katrina Rescue and Relief Operations, Office of Management and Budget, September, 2005. read this publication »

Purchase Cards: Increased Management Oversight and Control Could Save Hundreds of Millions of Dollars, GAO-04-717T, April 2004. read this report »

Testimony of former Office of Federal Procurement Policy Angela Styles which provides excellent background on purchase cards, March 1, 2002 . read this testimony »


CONGRESS

S. 1777 -- The Katrina Emergency Assistance Act of 2005
Sponsor:  Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)
The bill would provide relief for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and repeal the increased micro-purchase threshold that allows government employees to use government credit card for purchases up to $250,000 (see Section 5).  September 27, 2005 .

Follow this link to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs press release or follow this Link to Senator Lieberman’s press release.

Collins, Grassley, Lieberman letter expressing concern re: Katrina Relief bill to expand micropurchasing threshold to $250,000, September 8, 2005 . read this letter »

Ranking minority member Representative Henry Waxman letter criticizing the Katrina Relief bill provision to expand micropurchasing threshold to $250,000, September 8, 2005 . read this letter »

Announcement that the Collins-Feingold bill to crack down on wasteful spending passes in the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, June 22, 2005 . read this anouncement »

Chairman Collins Holds Hearing to Examine Waste of Taxpayer Dollars in Federal Purchase Card Program: Introduces Bill to Crack Down on Wasteful, Inefficient Spending; Releases GAO Report, April 8, 2004 . read this release » Witness testimony from the hearing. read this testimony »

NEWS ARTICLES

Here Is Your New Federal Credit Card. Here Is Your New Purchase Limit, New York Times, September 18, 2005.
The government buys everything from warships to paper clips, the latter being an example of a "micropurchase."

Govt. Credit Cards for Katrina Draw Fire, Associated Press, September 15, 2005.
Lawmakers and watchdog groups worry that allowing federal employees to charge up to $250,000 on their government-issued credit cards for Hurricane Katrina-related expenses will lead to a repeat of past abuses.

Fiscal Waste? Priceless, Los Angeles Times oped by procurement expert Steve Schooner on the $250,000 micropurchase threshold, September 14, 2005. IMAGINE A charge card that permitted you to spend up to $250,000 per transaction, and you never see the bill.

“OMB publishes guidelines on emergency procurement authorities,” Govexec.com, September 14, 2005 .

“Navy Sailors Used Gov't Credit Cards to Hire Prostitutes,” Associated Press, October 8, 2002 .