WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 - The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said today that millions of dollars worth of federal hurricane-relief contracts that were awarded with little or no competition will be rebid to minimize waste and abuse.

"I've never been a fan of no-bid contracts," R. David Paulison, FEMA's acting director, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, one of a half-dozen Senate and House panels holding hearings today on hurricane-recovery issues.

One underlying theme that emerged from the sessions was a sense of alarm over the overall cost of the recovery, acknowledged to be in the many billions of dollars, and how much of that the federal government must pay. Another is the growing potential for deep disagreement between Louisiana's Congressional delegation and their colleagues from other states on how much Washington can afford to do.

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As for no-bid contracts, Mr. Paulison, according to The Associated Press, told the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, "Sometimes you have to do them because of the expediency of getting things done. And I can assure you that we are going to look at all of these contracts very carefully."

"All of those no-bid contracts, we are going to go back and rebid," said Mr. Paulison, who succeeded Michael D. Brown after Mr. Brown stepped down amid heavy criticism of FEMA's response to the destruction wrought by winds and floods along the Gulf Coast.

Federal contracting rules allow agencies to approve deals without standard competitive bidding in "urgent and compelling circumstances." But in the weeks since hurricanes and floods devastated the Gulf Coast and uprooted thousands of people, some government officials and auditors have expressed concerns about the potential for favoritism and waste.