Now a bipartisan group in the House of Representatives is pushing a resolution asking President Biden to invoke the Defense Manufacturing Act, as a growing number of lawmakers are using the Cold War-era law to address the baby food shortage.
Twenty members of the House of Representatives, eighteen Democrats, two Republicans and many facing competitive re-election races supported the resolution, led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, DN.J.
Co-sponsors include Reps. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Mikie Sherrill (DN.J.), Elaine Luria (D-Va.), and Chris Pappas (DN.H.), among others. It also has two Republican supporters: Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Maria Salazar (R-Fla.)
The resolution joins several other pieces of legislation, including a bill by a bipartisan group of senators led by Marco Rubio that would require Biden to invoke the DPA and authorize the sale of European-made baby formula in the United States
On Monday, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand sent a letter to President Biden urging him to call the DPA.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi brushed aside the idea on Sunday, claiming that it wasn’t legally possible to call the DPA on baby food. While she said Congress should change the law, she focused on two other bills — one the House of Representatives plans to vote on Wednesday that would allow the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to to cover more brands formula and another that would provide $28 million in emergency aid.
When asked if Biden should call the DPA on Sunday, the spokesman said, “I think so, but as the law is now, that’s not possible.”
‘[Appropriations chair Rosa DeLauro] is pretty sure we need to change the law for the Defense Production Act to go into effect,” she added.
Twenty members of the House of Representatives, eighteen Democrats, two Republicans and many facing competitive re-election races supported the resolution, led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, DN.J.
Outgoing White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the DPA is an option, but the White House isn’t sure yet if it’s helpful. “You have to make sure it actually achieves what you want to achieve,” she said of the law’s application.
When asked about Monday’s appeal to the DPA, new White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We are leaving no stone unturned and every option is on the table, as we have said for the past few days.”
Biden last used the Defense Production Act of 1950 to increase production of critical minerals. The law allows the federal government to force certain industries to ramp up production during times of national emergencies.
The law has been used to boost production of high-capacity batteries, electric vehicles and the energy sector, both to reduce dependence on China amid rising tensions and to counter rising oil prices amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is a major supplier of such minerals.
Trump used the DPA at the height of the pandemic to crack down on PPE hoarding, limit exports of medical supplies and ramp up production of tools to fight Covid-19 like ventilators. Biden has also used it to speed up vaccinations and testing.
An Abbott Nutrition manufacturing facility in Sturgis, Michigan was shut down in February after four infants who drank the formula were hospitalized with a rare bacterial infection. Two babies died after consuming the product, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an investigation into possible contamination.
A view of an empty shelf in a giant grocery store due to shortages in baby food availability Monday May 16th
A nearly empty baby food shelf is seen at the CVS pharmacy in Falls Church, Virginia on May 17, 2022
Parents have scrambled to find formulas for their children, with some refreshing websites waiting endlessly for supplies and others waiting on hold for hours seeking help from the government
Abbott has acknowledged that this recall has exacerbated infant formula shortages, but insisted that “after a thorough review of all available data, there is no evidence that our infant formula is associated with these infant diseases.”
The shortage began in November, when the nationwide infant formula out-of-stock rate was about 11 percent.
On average, 40 percent of baby food nationwide is currently sold out. Scarcity is over 50 percent in some areas, and the problem is hitting children with allergies and health problems more severely.
President Biden’s home state of Delaware is the second hardest hit by the shortage — the formula was 54.4 percent sold out there, according to Datasembly, a food and retail price data company.
Biden suggested on Friday it would have taken a “mind reader” to predict the baby food shortage.
“If we had been better mind readers, I think we could have done it,” Biden said when asked whether his administration should have acted sooner.
“We’re going to be clearly moving to where more formula is on the shelves in a few weeks — or less,” he said.
Abbott reached an agreement with the FDA this week that its products could be back in stock in about two months after its Sturgis facility reopens.
Abbott said the tentative timeline for the facility to reopen is in about two weeks and product replenishment in about six to eight weeks.
FDA representative Dr. Robert Califf said he thought the timeline was doable but declined to commit to when parents might see relief.
“We believe these timeframes are reasonable,” adding that the FDA expects supply to normalize “over the next few months.”
