Trump Invokes A Cold War Relic, The Defense Production Act, For Coronavirus Shortages
A law that allows the executive branch to direct industrial production is being used to spur firms to step up their output of scarce items, such as face masks and ventilators.
Bowing to increasing pressure to do so, President Trump announced Wednesday he would use a law dating back to the early years of the Cold War to address serious shortages of supplies needed for responding to the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.
"We'll be invoking the Defense Production Act, just in case we need it," Trump told reporters at a White House news conference. "It can do good things if we need it."
Hours later Trump signed an executive order formalizing that decision.
"To ensure that our healthcare system is able to
