Biden invokes Defense Production Act in push to speed baby formula to shelves

President Biden on Wednesday invoked the Defense Production Act to ensure that U.S. baby formula makers get first access to supplies and authorized the Pentagon to use its air cargo contracts to fly approved foreign-made baby formula from overseas to get them on U.S. shelves. "Imports of baby formula will serve as a bridge to this ramped-up production," Biden wrote in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Parents and caregivers in much of the U.S. are struggling to find baby formula amid a nationwide shortage caused primarily by supply chain problems — that's what the Korean War–era Defense Production Act aims to address — and a recall of baby formula by Abbott Nutrition after the discovery of serious bacterial infections tied to their Sturgis, Michigan, plant.
"I know parents across the country are worried about finding enough formula to feed their babies," Biden said in a video statement on Wednesday. "As a parent and as a grandparent, I know just how stressful that is." One of his "top priorities," he said, is "to ensure there's enough safe baby formula and that it is quickly reaching families that need it the most."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Hours after Biden issued his orders, the House approved two bills to address the baby formula shortage. The first, which passed 414 to 9, would allow the state-run WIC programs to give low-income parents access to a greater variety of baby formula. The second Democratic bill, approved on a narrower 231-192 vote, would give $28 million in emergency funding to the Food and Drug Administration to bolster its food safety resources.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members