As 100 million Americans swelter under heat warnings, the president is considering whether to invoke special powers to address climate change.
Tag Archives: Defense Production Act
Vaccinating Our Youngest Kids Shouldn’t Take This Long
The formula shortage came on the heels of this seemingly endless wait.
White House Struggles to Explain Baby Formula Production Plan
A day after invoking the Defense Production Act to help alleviate a nationwide shortage, administration officials had few answers for how the law would lead to more supply.
You Shouldn’t Need a Doctor’s Note to Switch Formula Brands
The formula shortage is temporary. Changes to WIC should be permanent.
How Biden Could Alleviate the Baby Formula Shortage
Why is the wealthiest country in the world struggling to provide basic nutrition to so many children?
Meatpackers Misled Public and Influenced Trump Administration During Covid, Report Says
A congressional report claimed that meatpacking companies issued “baseless” warnings about food shortages and influenced government decisions to keep plants open early in the pandemic.
Biden Promised 500 Million Free Covid Tests. Then He Had to Find Them.
Millions of Americans are now receiving tests through the new mail program, which health experts said came too late to meet demand during the brunt of Omicron wave.
U.S. Covid Vaccine Donations Will Go to ‘Wide Range’ of Nations
Latin America, South and Southeast Asia and Africa will be among the recipients of an initial 25 million excess doses that the Biden administration is sharing this month.
Chip shortage continues, US asks Taiwan to prioritize automakers
Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)
The worldwide semiconductor shortage continues to affect the automotive industry. One by one, automakers have warned that the silicon chip shortage will negatively impact production output and revenues in the coming months.
Renault identified the chip shortage as a major problem when reporting its Q1 results in April. A week later, Ford said it expects to lose half of its Q2 production, up from 17 percent in Q1. And on Wednesday, Stellantis Chief Financial Officer Richard Palmer added to the chorus, warning that “it would be imprudent to assume that the issue is just going to go away.”
The shortage has its roots in the pandemic as carmakers canceled pending semiconductor orders in the face of heavily reduced demand for new vehicles. Since then, a drought in Taiwan and a fire at a Japanese chipmaker have compounded the problem, as has strong demand for consumer electronics.
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Biden Got the Vaccine Rollout Humming, With Trump’s Help
Trump administration officials grumble that they laid the groundwork for surging vaccinations, but some hard work in the trenches has helped pick up the pace of production.
Biden Vows Enough Vaccine ‘for Every Adult American’ by End of May
The pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. agreed to help manufacture Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine, in a deal partly brokered by the White House.
Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30 Million That It Can’t Sell.
Health workers are still being forced to ration protective masks, but small U.S. manufacturers can’t find buyers, and some are in a danger of going under.
U.S. Vaccine Supply: What to Know
Can President Biden really boost production? Why are governors trying to buy directly from Pfizer? And when will supply exceed demand?
Biden Unveils a National Pandemic Response That Trump Resisted
President Biden has a 21-page strategy to bolster production of vaccines, treatments and medical-grade protective gear while reaching out to communities of color.
Biden’s Covid-19 Plan Is Maddeningly Obvious
You can’t help but wonder why the Trump administration left so many of these things undone.
Biden Pledges Federal Vaccine Campaign to Beat a Surging Coronavirus
Facing looming shortages and rising infections, the president-elect promised mobile vaccination sites, National Guard troops and a federal push to increase vaccine production.
U.S. and Pfizer Seal Deal for 100 Million More Vaccine Doses
The company agreed to deliver the additional doses of its coronavirus vaccine by the end of July, helping address a looming shortage.
Pfizer Nears Deal to Provide More Vaccine Doses
The company could provide at least tens of millions of additional doses of a coronavirus vaccine under an agreement that would give it better access to the supplies it needs to expand manufacturing.
Hospitals Are Still Facing Shortages of Masks and Other Protective Gear
Health care workers are urging the incoming Biden administration to use the Defense Production Act to increase domestic manufacturing of personal protective equipment.
Military’s Role in Vaccine to Be Strictly Behind the Scenes
While no troops will be administering shots or dropping off doses, scores of Defense Department employees are involved in the effort.
The U.S. Has Lots of Ventilators — but Too Few Specialists to Mind Them
A burst of production solved the dire shortage that defined the first wave of the coronavirus. But the surplus may not be enough to prevent large numbers of deaths.
Inside the Chaotic, Cutthroat Gray Market for N95 Masks
As the country heads into a dangerous new phase of the pandemic, the government’s management of the P.P.E. crisis has left the private sector still straining to meet anticipated demand.
Dr. Céline Gounder, Adviser to Biden, on the Next Covid Attack Plan
Schools are essential while restaurants are not, said Dr. Gounder. And manufacturers may soon be ordered to produce protective gear for health workers.
Despite Claims, Trump Rarely Uses Wartime Law in Battle Against Covid
The president often criticized the Defense Production Act as anti-business. Now he’s campaigning on having frequently used the law to ramp up production of medical gear.
U.S. Companies Vie for Funds in Race to Build Rare Earths Industry
The Trump administration is encouraging development of a domestic industry to produce critical metals now dominated by Chinese companies, but few players show clear long-term promise.
Georgia Businessman Charged With Hoarding Face Masks and Price Gouging
The man, Milton Ayimadu, allegedly hoarded 200,000 face masks and sold them for double what he paid, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Trump Complains: ‘Nobody Likes Me,’ Abruptly Ends Coronavirus Briefing
The president lamented that his poll numbers were lower than those of his top science advisers. “It can only be my personality,” he said.
A Car Salesman, a Macedonian Ex-Minister and a $45 Million Mask Scheme
Prosecutors charged a New Jersey man who was part of an unlikely crew that sought a lucrative deal to provide desperately needed protective equipment.
If Trump Wants Meat Plants Open, He Should Protect Their Workers
He is forcing them to choose between a paycheck and their health.
How Kushner’s Volunteer Force Led a Fumbling Hunt for Medical Supplies
Roughly a dozen young, inexperienced workers were assembled to sort through tips on masks, gloves and other equipment. Warehouses were running bare, and doctors fighting the coronavirus were forced to make their own protective gear.
Mike Pence Wears Face Mask on Visit to Indiana Ventilator Plant
The vice president had been sharply criticized for visiting the Mayo Clinic this week and violating its requirement to wear one.
The Trump Administration’s Legal Moves to Prevent a Meat Shortage, Explained
Contrary to misunderstandings, the actions fall short of ordering meatpacking facilities to reopen despite Covid-19 outbreaks among workers.
Powerful Meat Industry Holds More Sway After Trump’s Order
The executive action signals that decisions around whether to close or reopen plants should be driven by the federal government, not local authorities.
Failing the Coronavirus Test
Where is the administration’s plan for more testing?
Tracking Trump’s Promises on Responding to the Virus
The president has promised enhanced testing and monitoring capabilities, thousands of ventilators and millions of masks. Here’s a status report.
Trump’s Claim of Total Authority in Crisis Is Rejected Across Ideological Lines
Trading barbs with governors about their powers over when to ease restrictions on society, the president made an assertion that lacks a basis in the Constitution or federal law.
The Pandemic Proves the Need for Industrial Policy
The president has promoted himself as a champion of American manufacturing, but now he avoids addressing its shortcomings.
Joe Biden: My Plan to Reopen America After the Coronavirus
An effective strategy to beat the virus is the ultimate answer to how we get our economy back on track.
Bill de Blasio: We Need All Medical Workers vs. Coronavirus
Our city and all cities need the federal government to enlist all doctors and health workers, and mobilize them in a way we’ve never seen.
It’s High Time We Fought This Virus the American Way
The administration has all the authority it needs to produce medical supplies and prepare for a potential vaccine.
Defense Production Act Has Been Used Routinely, but Not With Coronavirus
The Defense Production Act has been invoked hundreds of thousands of times in the Trump years. But with the pandemic, the president sees it as a “break the glass” last resort.
Trump orders GM to make ventilators, claims company is “wasting time”
Enlarge / President Donald Trump speaks as Vice President Mike Pence looks on during a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic at the White House on March 26, 2020. (credit: Getty Images | Drew Angerer )
President Donald Trump today ordered General Motors to make ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients and accused the company of “wasting time.” Trump announced that he “signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to use any and all authority available under the Defense Production Act to require General Motors to accept, perform, and prioritize Federal contracts for ventilators.”
Hours before Trump took this step, GM said it is working with ventilator-maker Ventec Life Systems “to deliver the first ventilators next month and ramp up to a manufacturing capacity of more than 10,000 critical care ventilators per month with the infrastructure and capability to scale further.”
Trump’s statement did not specify how many ventilators GM should build, but he said that GM is moving too slowly:
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Slow Response to the Coronavirus Measured in Lost Opportunity
If the administration had reacted to the ventilator shortage in February, a private sector effort starting now might have made lifesaving equipment in mid- to late April. Now it is unlikely to be before June.
Fourteen Days. That’s the Most Time We Have to Defeat Coronavirus.
These decisive measures can prevent a decade of dislocation and extraordinary levels of deaths.
Trump Bets Business Will Answer Call to Fight Virus, but Strategy Bewilders Firms
It remains unclear if the effort to enlist companies like General Motors, Apple and Hanes constitutes an effective strategy.
U.S. Virus Plan Anticipates 18-Month Pandemic and Widespread Shortages
The 100-page federal plan laid out a grim prognosis and outlined a response that would activate agencies across the government.