Congress Approves $51.8 Billion For Victims

Bush has scrapped his schedule to focus on hurricane relief after being criticized for reacting too slowly to Katrina's devastation. A Pew Research Center survey found that 67 percent of Americans think Bush could have done more to respond to the storm. The survey placed his overall job approval rating at 40 percent, down 10 points since January. A poll by Zogby America recorded its lowest-ever approval rating for Bush, 41 percent.

In the latest effort to demonstrate commitment to improving the federal response, Bush dispatched Vice President Cheney to the region and first lady Laura Bush to other states housing evacuees. Cheney personally encountered some of the hostility directed at the administration. As he spoke with reporters on a street in Gulfport, Miss., a young man shouted at him. "Go [expletive] yourself, Mr. Cheney," the man yelled twice. Cheney smiled slightly but did not respond.

In his first tour of the damage, Cheney offered an upbeat assessment of what he called the "very impressive" current response efforts. "I think the progress we're making is significant," he said. Cheney also endorsed the Republican inquiry plan instead of the independent commission proposed by Democrats.

The details of yesterday's spending package offer a glimpse of the impact Katrina will have on taxpayers. Nearly half of the money -- $23.2 billion -- will go directly to as many as 1.1 million households in the form of housing grants and other assistance. Such aid will be capped initially at $26,200 per household.

Already, the government has spent $3.3 billion to snap up 200,000 trailers, mobile homes and recreational vehicles from showrooms across the country for the homeless survivors. Clayton Homes Inc., a Tennessee-based manufactured-home company, is trying to get 100 homes a day from its showrooms to a FEMA staging area, said Chris Nicely, the company's vice president for marketing. "We did make a profit on it," he said of the order. "It's hard to say how much."

More business will be coming soon. Included in yesterday's legislation is an additional $1.6 billion for 100,000 housing units. The package also includes $7.65 billion to repair public schools, nonfederal roads and bridges, water facilities, government buildings, parks, and public utilities. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will receive $3 billion to remove mountains of debris. A total of $1.9 billion will be used to buy ice, water, food, tents and other materials for victims and relief workers.

The bill stirred concerns in both parties about possible fraud. Under one provision, procurement officers can use government credit cards to make purchases costing as much as $250,000, without competitive bidding and without considering small-business and minority-owned-business allotments.

Such authority has traditionally been limited to $2,500 under normal circumstances and to $15,000 in emergencies. Lawmakers gave $15 million to the Homeland Security inspector general, but that did not mollify critics.

Sens. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) signed a letter yesterday opposing raising the limit. "We should not allow the immediate needs of this disaster to trump the need for oversight and accountability for the spending that will occur on these purchase cards," they wrote. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) agreed: "The vast majority of federal employees are honest, upstanding people, but the ability to buy up to $250,000 in any single purchase is a great temptation."

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) said that "we've got safeguards" to ensure that the money is spent appropriately. "Sure, there is going to be waste in money," he acknowledged. "You can't deal with 5 million people and not have some waste in money. But the bulk is going to go to the people and the property that deserve it."

Staff writers Jonathan Weisman and Griff Witte contributed to this report.