Department of Homeland Security chief financial officer nominee David Norquist faced more questions at his confirmation hearing about Halliburton subsidiary KBR than about his plans to handle the department’s complex financial management system.

Senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Monday focused on Norquist’s role at the Department of Defense in allowing prime Iraq contractor Halliburton subsidiary KBR to conceal alleged overcharges in an investigation by a United Nations oversight board.

As the deputy undersecretary of defense and comptroller, Norquist was asked by the panel about more than 450 redactions in documents drafted by the Defense Contract Audit Agency. That agency found more than $177 million in overcharges, according to committee ranking member Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn.

DOD provided the documents to the U.N. oversight board, claiming the redactions were necessary to protect proprietary information for KBR.

It is “very troubling that a contractor implicated in an overcharging scandal would be given the final say on what information to provide to the U.N. oversight board,” Lieberman said.

“This episode is relevant to today’s hearing because DHS needs a CFO who puts taxpayers first, who is committed to sound financial management and transparency and who is willing to confront agencies that may be shirking their legal responsibilities.”

Sens. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., joined Lieberman in his concerns about the redactions.

Levin pushed Norquist to elaborate on why he didn’t take the issue to higher levels. “This goes to the heart of overcharging,” Levin said, calling the redactions a coverup but stopping short of blaming Norquist for withholding information.

Norquist told the panel that he discussed the redactions with lawyers at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The Army Corps of Engineers ultimately made the decision to allow the redactions to stand. Norquist said he took the decision higher, to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which sided with the Army Corps.

“If there was a dissent [at OSD], I would have taken it further,” Norquist said.

A spokeswoman for Lieberman said it was too early in the nomination process to tell whether Norquist’s connection to the redactions would hold up his confirmation.

If confirmed, Norquist would head up DHS’ efforts to consolidate various financial management systems that exist among the department’s 22 legacy agencies. Former DHS CFO Andrew Maner started the project, known as emerge2 (electronically managing enterprise resources for government effectiveness and efficiency).

There were few questions from the panel about emerge2. Committee Chairwoman Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, highlighted reports by the DHS inspector general and the Government Accountability Office warning about financial challenges for the three-year-old department.

Norquist is expected to answer more questions from the committee in writing, including some from Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, who is interested in Norquist’s views on integrating the department’s many financial operations and working with the DHS chief procurement officer to prevent waste in contracting.

Norquist has the backing of at least one powerful senator: Armed Services Committee Chairman John W. Warner, R-Va., who appeared before the Homeland Security committee to introduce the nominee.

The committee has not yet scheduled a vote on Norquist’s nomination.

Angela Kim can be reached at akim@cq.com.