Past administrations have used, or considered using, the DPA for energy-related purposes.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency used the DPA extensively in 2017 after Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico to prioritize contracts for manufactured housing units, food and water, and electrical transmission. Over time, various DPA authorities have been delegated to executives and other agencies. The fund's fiscal year 2022 budget is $544 million.įormer President Donald Trump used the DPA to enable production of more personal protective equipment and ventilators during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also gives the president access to the Defense Production Act Fund, which the Department of Defense oversees. Under the law, the president can require corporations to accept contracts for materials and services determined to promote national defense, develop loan guarantees and purchasing commitments to incentivize industry to produce more of a given good, and establish voluntary agreements with private industry, among other measures. The scope of authorities has since been expanded and has been employed for responding to natural disasters and terrorist attacks. It gave the president new authorities "to shape the domestic industrial base so that, when called upon, private industry and other entities are capable of providing the essential materials and goods needed for national defense," according to the Congressional Research Service. Here's a look at one of Biden's favorite laws:Ĭongress passed the DPA and it was signed into law by President Harry Truman after the Korean War began in 1950. Support for Biden's use of the DPA has been bipartisan in some cases, such as with his using it to boost production of critical minerals, and some lawmakers have urged him to use DPA authorities in areas he's declined to thus far.
He's also tapping into the fund provided by the law to advance some of his green energy priorities, whose progress has been stalled in Congress, and is considering doing so again in an attempt to deal with the consequences of the nation's shortage of oil refining capacity. President Joe Biden has leaned heavily on the Defense Production Act since taking office to increase supplies of everything from COVID-19 tests to baby formula and insulation.
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