Now who's playing politics with Katrina?

Well, this will certainly get to the bottom of things.

A day after George W. Bush said he'd investigate his administration's response to Katrina himself, Republicans in Congress have offered to do it for him.

Rejecting Democrats' calls for an independent investigation akin to the one conducted by the 9/11 Commission, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert say that a joint congressional committee will review the response to Katrina. Republicans will outnumber Democrats on the committee, meaning that it will be hard for Democrats to exercise much -- if any -- control over the scope of the committee's work and impossible for the Democrats to subpoena witnesses or documents without the consent of the Republican majority.

Meanwhile, as Raw Story reports, Republicans in the House of Representatives have blocked Democrats from debating or adding amendments to a bill that would provide $52 billion in Katrina funding. Louise Slaughter, the ranking Democrat on the House Rules Committee, tells Raw Story: "No one has even seen a copy of the bill."