The Federal Emergency Management Agency is facing mounting questions about its response to Hurricane Maria as details emerge about a failed $156 million contract to provide food for Puerto Ricans in the early days of the aftermath.

The agency awarded Atlanta businesswoman Tiffany Brown a contract to provide 30 million meals, but by the time 18.5 million meals were due, only 50,000 meals were ready and the deal fell apart.

FEMA's contract had required self-heating meals, but when inspectors discovered that the first shipment had been packaged separately from heating pouches, the contract was abruptly cancelled.

Two lawmakers are urging the House Oversight Committee to subpoena FEMA documents connected to the contract as well as other failed hurricane-relief contracts.

In a letter, Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands pointed out that Brown's company, Tribute Contracting LLC, had no prior experience in disaster relief and the government cancelled at least five of her contracts in the past, all of them under $100,000.

A congressional investigation after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 found that a lack of advance contracts for disaster relief opened the door to widespread waste and fraud.

"It appears that the Trump administration's response to the hurricanes in Puerto Rico in 2017 suffered from the same flaws as the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005," the letter from Cummings and Plaskett reads.

Read More:

• FEMA Contract Called For 30 Million Meals For Puerto Ricans. 50,000 Were Delivered. (New York Times)
• Democrats Ask Gowdy To Subpoena FEMA Over Botched Hurricane-Relief Contract (Politico)