Trump issues order to use Defense Production Act to make ventilators

Trump said he is using the Defense Production Act to ensure the production of more ventilators to fight coronavirus.
“My order to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Homeland Security will help domestic manufacturers like General Electric, Hill-Rom, Medtronic, ResMed, Royal Philips, and Vyaire Medical secure the supplies they need to build ventilators needed to defeat the virus,” Trump said in a statement.
The president has previously been hesitant to widely use the DPA to speed up the production of medical equipment, even though his administration had frequently invoked the law before the pandemic.
Trump also gave conflicting answers in recent weeks about whether he was actually using the full powers of the DPA after he signed it last month.
The president said in his statement that today’s order would “save lives by removing obstacles in the supply chain that threaten the rapid production of ventilators.”