Congress allocated $1 billion to make medical supplies. It went to shipbuilding and airplane parts instead.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress allocated trillions of dollars to address medical supply shortages, and President Trump even invoked the Defense Production Act to move U.S. contractors to make those supplies. But at least $1 billion of that money wasn't used for ventilators, masks, and other still-needed supplies, The Washington Post reports.

Congress allocated $1 billion under the DPA in March to "prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus." Yet a few months later, Defense Department lawyers determined the $1 billion didn't actually have to be used for coronavirus-fighting projects, the Post reports. So the Pentagon sent $183 million to Rolls-Royce and ArcelorMittal to bolster their shipbuilding industry, $80 million to an aircraft parts manufacturer, and $2 million to a company that made Army dress uniform fabrics, among others. Some of those manufacturers already received Paycheck Protection Program loans meant to keep them afloat during the pandemic.

Today, items that $1 billion was supposed to cover still remain in need. Many hospitals still desperately need N95 masks, while Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield recently asked for $6 billion to help states distribute COVID-19 vaccines once they're ready.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

Sign up

Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told the Post the spending was necessary to maintain America's "industrial base," which is key to "economic security and national security." The Democratic-controlled House Appropriations Committee meanwhile contended the funding was meant to "address the need for PPE industrial capacity," not bolster the defense industry. Read more at The Washington Post.