Though Trump has been hesitant to use the Defense Production Act to order ventilators, his administration has relied on it for years to prioritize military supplies
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One of the many oddities of the president’s response to the coronavirus was the reluctance of the “wartime president” to invoke the Defense Production Act, allowing the administration to prioritize contracts with private manufacturers to quickly produce goods deemed necessary for the national interest.
The delay in activating the Korean War-era power is made even more perplexing by a New York Times analysis that found that the Trump administration has used the Defense Production Act reflexively over the past three years to prioritize orders it deemed necessary for national security, from rare earth metals to build lasers to body armor for Border Patrol agents.
Already, there is one damaging answer explaining Trump’s current reluctance — because the relevant corporations don’t want him to override their business. According to a Times report from last week, “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the heads of major corporations have lobbied the administration against using the act. They say the move could prove counterproductive, imposing red tape on companies precisely when they need flexibility to deal with closed borders and shuttered factories.
In the new Times report, there are more concerning justifications for the delay: Sources close to Trump said he considers the law “anti-American” and that invoking the DPA would “make it clear that the government is in charge.” While it may be too late to distance the coronavirus from his administration’s lackluster response, so far the president’s crunch-time stalling hasn’t negatively impacted his approval rating.
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