Failure is its own reward.

Former FEMA Director Michael Brown, who resigned in disgrace after helping to bungle the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, remains on the payroll as a consultant. He’s being paid to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency determine what went wrong. He should have a pretty good idea. His fingerprints are all over the fiasco.

During testimony before Congress on Tuesday, Brown blamed just about everyone else for FEMA’s foul-ups.

He blamed local and state officials and federal officials in the Department of Homeland Security. No doubt, there’s plenty of blame to go around, but Brown’s performance further illustrates how he was mismatched for the job to which he was entrusted.

Brown was woefully unqualified to handle the responsibilities of managing the federal government’s reaction to disasters. He had no real experience in emergency management and got his job because of personal and political connections.

He has no business being paid by FEMA as a consultant or anything else.