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Trump Resists Pressure to Force Companies to Make Coronavirus Supplies Trump Resists Pressure to Use Wartime Law to Mobilize Industry in Virus Response
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WASHINGTON — President Trump and his advisers are resisting calls from congressional Democrats and a growing number of governors to use a federal law to mobilize industry to provide badly needed resources to help halt the spread of the coronavirus, days after the president said he would consider using that authority.WASHINGTON — President Trump and his advisers are resisting calls from congressional Democrats and a growing number of governors to use a federal law to mobilize industry to provide badly needed resources to help halt the spread of the coronavirus, days after the president said he would consider using that authority.
The Defense Production Act grants presidents extraordinary powers to force American industries to produce medical supplies, materials and equipment that health care workers say are in dire shortage in hospitals across the country. Mr. Trump has given conflicting signals about the Defense Production Act since he first said on Wednesday that he was prepared to invoke the law, which was passed by Congress in 1950 at the outset of the Korean War and grants presidents extraordinary powers to force American industries ensure the availability of critical equipment.
Mr. Trump claimed at his news briefing Friday afternoon that after invoking the act on Wednesday he had begun using it when the government ordered millions of masks and other supplies. Later that day, he seemed to backtrack, writing on Twitter that the act would be used only in a “worst case scenario.” But then at a news briefing on Friday afternoon, Mr. Trump claimed that he had used it to spur the production of “millions of masks.” He also confirmed that he had discussed using the act during a call in the morning with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, that he said was “extremely good.”
“We have millions of masks which are coming and will be distributed to the states,” Mr. Trump said. “The act is very good for things like this.” At the same time, the president suggested that private companies, including General Motors, had volunteered to produce supplies.
But the president did not say how this was different from the government’s previous efforts to encourage production of masks in partnership with private companies, including Honeywell and 3-M. “We are literally being besieged in a beautiful way by companies that want to do the work and help our country,” Mr. Trump said. “We have not had a problem with that at all.”
Some of Mr. Trump’s advisers have privately said they are adhering to longstanding conservative opposition to big government, a view that reflects the administration’s conflicted view of how it should handle a crisis unlike any a modern president has faced. Some of the president’s advisers have privately said they share conservatives’ longstanding opposition of government intervention and oppose using the law, and the president again suggested his own ambivalence toward using it.
“First of all, governors are supposed to be doing a lot of this work, and they are doing a lot of this work,” Mr. Trump said to reporters on Thursday. “The federal government is not supposed to be out there buying vast amounts of items and then shipping. You know, we’re not a shipping clerk.” “When we need something, we’ll order something,” Mr. Trump said of the act. “As you know two days ago, I invoked the act. It is a big step. I am not sure if it is done before. When we need something, we’ll use it.”
But there’s a growing chorus of pleas from Democratic lawmakers and governors to use the act to increase production of masks, ventilators and other supplies. And Friday morning, it seemed like they might be getting through. The White House did not immediately respond to inquiries asking for examples of companies or industries that have been compelled under the Defense Production Act to spur production, as Mr. Trump claimed. And the president did not say if masks and supplies have actually been delivered to the workers who need them.
Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, spoke with the president and urged him to invoke the act, and according to Justin Goodman, the senator’s spokesman, the president “told Schumer he would, and yelled to someone in his office to do it now.” During the briefing, Mr. Trump grew increasingly confrontational with reporters as they pressed him on the details of the act, and he snapped at a reporter for NBC News who asked him to detail his message to Americans who were shaken by their lives being upended.
Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City, however, spoke for many Democrats. “It is a bad signal that you are putting out to the American people,” the president said to the reporter. “You want to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism. Let’s see if it works. I happen to feel good about it. Who knows. I have been right a lot. Let’s see what happens.”
“We’re talking about a president who is basically doing what Herbert Hoover did at the beginning of the Depression and minimizing the danger and refusing to use available federal action, and people are going to die, and they shouldn’t, they don’t have to, if we could get the support that we’re asking for,” he said in an interview with WNYC on Friday. As he continued sparring with reporters, Mr. Trump appeared to toggle back and forth on whether or not he had actually used the act to force companies to jump-start production on supplies. Without clear guidance from the administration, frustrated Democrats said that the president had shirked his responsibility to act during a national crisis.
Republicans have not been openly critical, but some governors have been explicit in describing their difficulty in depending on the private sector for medical supplies. “We’re talking about a president who is basically doing what Herbert Hoover did at the beginning of the Depression and minimizing the danger and refusing to use available federal action,” Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York said Friday in an interview with the radio station WNYC. “And people are going to die, and they shouldn’t, they don’t have to, if we could get the support that we’re asking for.”
In a call held with Mr. Trump at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters on Thursday, a group of governors stressed to him that they were struggling to address the staggering demand for equipment and supplies. Republicans have not been openly critical, but some governors have been explicit in describing their difficulties in depending on the private sector for medical supplies.
At one point, Gov. Kristi Noem, Republican of South Dakota, grew frustrated as she expressed to the president and members of the task force that state officials had been working unsuccessfully with private suppliers. In a call held on Thursday with Mr. Trump at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters, a group of governors stressed to him that they were struggling to address the staggering demand for equipment and supplies.
At one point, Gov. Kristi Noem, Republican of South Dakota, grew frustrated as she expressed to the president and members of the coronavirus task force that state officials had been working unsuccessfully with private suppliers.
“I need to understand how you’re triaging supplies,” Ms. Noem said. “We, for two weeks, were requesting reagents for our public health lab from C.D.C., who pushed us to private suppliers who kept canceling orders on us. And we kept making requests, placing orders.”“I need to understand how you’re triaging supplies,” Ms. Noem said. “We, for two weeks, were requesting reagents for our public health lab from C.D.C., who pushed us to private suppliers who kept canceling orders on us. And we kept making requests, placing orders.”
She added: “I don’t want to be less of a priority because we’re a smaller state or less populated.” She added, “I don’t want to be less of a priority because we’re a smaller state or less populated.”
Mr. Trump promised her that would “never” happen before Ms. Noem’s telephone line was disconnected.Mr. Trump promised her that would “never” happen before Ms. Noem’s telephone line was disconnected.
The Defense Production Act, passed by Congress in 1950 at the outset of the Korean War, granted President Truman the power to spur the production of aluminum, titanium and other needed materials during wartime. Since then, it has been used for both the prevention of terrorism and to prepare for natural disasters. When it was originally passed, the Defense Production Act granted President Harry S. Truman the power to spur the production of aluminum, titanium and other needed materials during wartime. Since then, it has been used for both the prevention of terrorism and to prepare for natural disasters.
The act would give the administration the authority to override companies’ existing contracts, and direct supplies to hot spots like New York City or Seattle. It could also help mobilize funds for retooling factories, refitting pharmacy drive-throughs into testing sites, and ramping up production of an eventual vaccine. The act would give the Trump administration the authority to override companies’ existing contracts and to direct supplies to hot spots like New York City or Seattle. It could also help mobilize funds for retooling factories, refitting pharmacy drive-throughs into testing sites and ramping up production of an eventual vaccine.
This week, as Mr. Trump announced that he was invoking the act should he need it, he referred to himself as “in a sense, a wartime president.” Business leaders have said invoking it is not necessary.
Yet Mr. Trump has hesitated to take the kind of actions necessary in wartime. John Murphy, the senior vice president for international policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that corporate executives were already working “hand in glove” with the government on production challenges.
Not all of Mr. Trump’s advisers subscribe to the theory that the federal government should be as hands-off as possible. Some of his aides believe there needs to be a shift toward using the law and have suggested this to the president. “American companies will do whatever it takes to support our country’s response to the pandemic and shore up the economy,” he said. “The Defense Production Act was designed for defense industry products with a single supplier, often with purely domestic production chains, and invoking it may do more harm than good in sectors such as pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.”
As the threat of the coronavirus has worsened, officials leading the Trump administration’s response have resisted setting priorities in favor of letting private companies determine their own roles, a stance that has confounded Mr. Trump’s critics but which officials say is a small-government approach that the president’s advisers prefer. Companies that manufacture face masks, medical wipes and other supplies say they are already operating around the clock to meet elevated demand. Some factories that make similar products — like surgical gowns, diapers and incontinence products — have already switched over to manufacture the face masks or other protective gear that health care workers need.
But people familiar with the administration’s actions say the administration is still trying to figure how industry supply chains operate, which companies could produce additional products, and what kind of subsidies they may need to offer. But people familiar with the administration’s actions say it is still trying to figure out how industry supply chains operate, which companies could produce additional products and what kinds of subsidies it may need to offer.
The president’s advisers say they see the role of the federal government as facilitator, as opposed to chief producer and a national governor. They have tried to encourage states to get by with what they can, suggesting there will be support from the federal government but that this shouldn’t be the first option. And they have hoped that private companies will be spurred to increase production by the president’s statements. And without the Defense Production Act, the government will lack the ability to channel these supplies to areas that need it most — or to persuade companies to act quickly and without regard for their profits.
“We’re actually encouraged that the partnership with the private-sector can meeting many of these needs,” said Marc Short, the chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, in a discussion with reporters on Friday morning. As reported cases of the virus in the United States have soared, Mr. Trump, who is known to recruit input from a variety of outside advisers, has been getting conflicting advice. And an influx of private sector voices with direct access to the president and his top advisers — notably his son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner — has resulted in a chaotic process.
In practice, the administration has been trying to use the provision to jawbone companies into taking voluntary action while holding over them the possibility that the federal government would intervene. The president’s advisers say they see the role of the federal government as a facilitator, as opposed to the chief producer or a national governor. They have tried to encourage states to get by with what they can, suggesting there will be support from the federal government but that this should not be the first option. And they have hoped that private companies will be spurred by the president’s statements to increase production.
“President Trump has made it clear the Defense Production Act will only be used as necessary and so far, the voluntary responses of private enterprise has been beautiful,” Peter Navarro, a top White House trade adviser, said in an interview. “And we expect that to continue.” “We’re actually encouraged that the partnership with the private sector can meeting many of these needs,” said Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, on Friday morning in a discussion with reporters.
The White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Wednesday that General Motors had offered to use its factory space to manufacture ventilators. Writing on Twitter, Tesla founder Elon Musk also offered for his company to make ventilators if there is a shortage. Katie Rogers and Ana Swanson reported from Washington, and Maggie Haberman from New York. Michael Gold contributed reporting from New York.
But Mr. Navarro added that some brokers had been hoarding supplies of masks in warehouses and trying to sell them at exorbitant prices.
“That’s a Defense Production Act action waiting to happen,” he said. “If anybody thinks they’re going to sit on urgently needed supplies and profiteer from this crisis, they’re going to answer to the full force of the Trump administration.”
As reported cases of the virus in the United States soar, the president, who is known to recruit input from a variety of outside advisers, is getting conflicting advice. And an influx of private sector voices with direct access to the president and his top advisers — notably his son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner — have added competing insights to an already calamitous process, officials say.
Michael Gold contributed reporting.