Okay, I was wrong. He did go through Senate confirmation.
http://blog.mises.org/blog/archives/004054.asp
The calls to fire FEMA Director Michael Brown—his full bureaucratic title is Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness & Response—have been escalating today. Much is being made of Brown's thin credentials in emergency management. It would have been nice, of course, if Brown's record had been scrutinized before he was handed the keys to FEMA, but when Brown faced Senate confirmation hearings in 2002 as FEMA's deputy director, there was wide bipartisan support, and the then-Democratic controlled Senate approved Brown on a voice vote. (I cannot find any record of Brown's Senate confirmation to his current position; there may not have been a second confirmation hearing.)
I've uploaded the transcript of Brown's 2002 confirmation hearing transcript so everyone can make their own judgments. You can download the transcript at this link:
http://www.voluntarytrade.org/newsite/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?cid=11&lid=28
The Senate should be held accountable too.
He was confirmed by a democrat party Senate. Remember jumpin jim jeffords.