President Trump announced today that he is invoking the Defense Production Act — a Korean War–era law that enables extraordinary government actions to boost needed supplies — “just in case we need it” to fight the cornavirus pandemic.
There have been stories of health providers across the United States facing shortages of everything from ventilators to respiratory masks to tests for the COVID-19 virus.
Under the Defense Production Act, the U.S. Department of Defense could go to a medical device manufacturer and, for example, make a large order for ventilators. The law requires the manufacturer to treat the order as a top priority, fulfilling it before any commercial orders previously made, as explained on Vox.