Biden signs baby formula bill during trip to Asia


While in Seoul on Saturday, President Biden signed into law legislation aimed at bolstering access to baby formula as national shortage meanwhile continues to rock American families, The Hill reports.
The legislation, known as the Access to Baby Formula Act of 2022, was passed by the Senate on Thursday after having successfully cleared the House the day prior. The measure is meant to ensure families in need can continue using government-provided Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits to buy baby formula during a public health emergency or product recall.
The devastating formula shortage started with knotted supply chains, but only got worse once leading manufacturer Abbott Laboratories shut down a plant and recalled three powdered formula brands due to potential bacterial infections. The FDA has said production at the Abbott plant could resume soon.
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.
The government is meanwhile working overtime to get much-needed formula on the shelves, with Biden on Wednesday having invoked the Defense Production Act to help U.S. formula makers quickly access supplies. The president also authorized the Pentagon to fly approved foreign-made baby formula in from overseas.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Aimee Betro: the Wisconsin woman who came to Birmingham to kill
In the Spotlight US hitwoman wore a niqab in online lover's revenge plot
-
Facial recognition vans and policing
The government is rolling out more live facial recognition technology across England
-
Dive in! The best children's books to spark a love of reading
The Week Recommends These gripping stories will keep kids hooked until the last page
-
Trump picks conservative BLS critic to lead BLS
speed read He has nominated the Heritage Foundation's E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics
-
Trump takes over DC police, deploys National Guard
Speed Read The president blames the takeover on rising crime, though official figures contradict this concern
-
Trump sends FBI to patrol DC, despite falling crime
Speed Read Washington, D.C., 'has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world,' Trump said
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monuments
Speed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seat
speed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring push
Speed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additions
Speed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein files
Speed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline