Trump, Biden and the Defense Production Act
Leading Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden repeatedly has criticized President Donald Trump for failing to make timely use of his powers under the Defense Production Act to compel companies to manufacture medical supplies that are expected to be needed to treat those infected with the novel coronavirus.
Biden claims he was one of the first to call for the need to use the Defense Production Act. The Trump campaign says Biden only began calling for that on the same day — March 18 — that Trump said he was invoking the act. There’s a bit of spin coming from both sides on this.
We couldn’t find evidence that Biden has been calling for use of the law for as long as he suggests, and Trump did not invoke the full force of the act back on March 18.
With the use of the Defense Production Act becoming a frequent point of contention between Trump and his critics, we thought it would be helpful to explain what the act is and how Trump has (and has not) applied it to date.
What Is the Defense Production Act?
First enacted in 1950 in response to the Korean War and last amended in 2018, the Defense Production Act provides the president broad authority to “influence domestic industry in the interest of national defense,” as a Congressional Research Service report put it in 2020.
“The authorities can be used across the federal government to shape the domestic industrial base so that, when called upon, it is capable of providing essential materials and goods needed for the national defense,” the CRS report states.
