During the first meeting of the White House Supply Chain Resilience Council on Monday, President Joe Biden is expected to invoke a Cold War-era law to address a problem that has plagued his post-pandemic presidency.
According to the White House, the council will announce 30 actions to increase investment in U.S. manufacturing of medicines and medical supplies, as well as other industrial supply chains that have been significantly disrupted by COVID-19.
Disruptions in U.S. supply chains contributed to higher inflation and higher costs of living, weighing on consumers and creating political headaches for Biden and his administration.
In response to these problems, Biden will turn to the Defense Production Act (DPA), which was originally passed in 1950 to authorize the Department of Health and Human Services to invest in “essential medicines,” it says in a statement from the White House.
President Joe Biden delivers a speech on the release of Gaza hostages on November 26, 2023 in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Biden is expected to announce his new Supply Chain Council on November 27th.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
The White House has identified the medical manufacturing sector as critical to national security. Other areas included in the investment include “medical countermeasures”, supplies to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases that can arise in connection with war – be they chemical, biological or nuclear.
“This [30] “Action will help Americans get the products they need when they need them, enable reliable supplies for businesses, strengthen our agriculture and food systems, and support good-paying union jobs here at home,” the White House said, adding that this move was part of the president’s “Bidenomics agenda” to reduce costs for American families.
“We are committed to continuing to work to reduce prices for American consumers and ensure the resilience of our supply chains going forward,” Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council and co-chair of the new supply chain council, said loudly ABC News.
While Brainard noted that supply chain disruptions have decreased since the immediate fallout from the pandemic, he said more work still needs to be done.
If the move is successful, it could boost both Biden’s popularity and the U.S. economy, giving new impetus to the president’s flagging campaign in 2024.
According to FiveThirtyEight, as of November 22, 55 percent of Americans disapproved of the job Biden is doing and only 38.9 percent approved. His likely opponent in the 2024 general election, former President Donald Trump, gained ground in key battleground states.
According to recent New York Times and Siena College polls, Trump had a majority of votes in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Biden only led in Wisconsin.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email Monday seeking comment.
The Supply Chain Council is led by Brainard and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. It includes the agriculture, commerce, defense, energy, health and human services, homeland security, housing and urban development, interior, labor, government, transportation, and treasury and veterans affairs secretaries; the Attorney General; the administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Small Business Administration; the directors of National Intelligence, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy; the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers; the U.S. Trade Representative; and other senior officials of the Executive Office of the President and other agencies.
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Newsweek strives to challenge conventional wisdom and find connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek strives to challenge conventional wisdom and find connections in the search for common ground.
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