Trump Resists Calls To Use War Powers, Says Private Companies Are Rising To Occasion

The New York Times: Governments And Companies Race To Make Masks Vital To Virus Fight
President Trump on Saturday sought to assure an anxious American public that help was on the way to overwhelmed hospitals, and that private companies had agreed to provide desperately needed medical supplies to fight the fast-spreading coronavirus. But Mr. Trump resisted appeals from state and local officials and hospital administrators for more aggressive action, saying he would not compel companies to make face masks and other gear to protect front-line health workers from the virus. (Abrams, Silver-Greenberg, Jacobs, Friedman and Rothfeld, 3/21)

The New York Times: Trump Bets Business Will Answer Call To Fight Virus, But Strategy Bewilders Firms
President Trump’s refusal to invoke the Defense Production Act to commandeer resources for the federal government is based on a bet that he can cajole the nation’s biggest manufacturers and tech firms to come together in a market-driven, if chaotic, consortium that will deliver critical equipment — from masks to ventilators — in time to abate a national crisis. Over the past five days, after weeks of minimizing the virus and dismissing calls to organize a national response, administration officials have been pulling executives into the White House Situation Room, and connecting them by phone, in a desperate effort to unlock existing supplies and ramp up new production. (Sanger, Swanson and Haberman, 3/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Shuns Use Of Law Allowing Control Over Manufacturers
[Trump] said sufficient numbers of companies were volunteering to manufacture masks and other protective gear, so invoking the Defense Production Act wasn’t yet necessary, though he said “we may have to use it someplace along the chain.” “If you go the nationalization route, we’re going to tell the company to make a ventilator—they don’t even know what a ventilator is,” Mr. Trump said. The Korean War-era law gives the president powers to require and provide incentives to businesses to produce goods tied to national defense, as well as control the distribution of those products. (Restuccia and Ballhaus, 3/22)

The Hill: Trump Rejects Calls To Directly Use Defense Production Act 
Trump administration officials pointed to voluntary actions from companies, such as 3M announcing more masks are being shipped to New York and Seattle. "We're getting what we need without putting the heavy hand of government down," White House adviser Peter Navarro said at Sunday's briefing with the president. (Sullivan, 3/22)

The Washington Post: What Is The Defense Production Act, And Why Isn’t President Trump Invoking It?
There’s a drastic wartime tool at President Trump’s disposal to try to get hospitals what they need, but Trump has been reluctant to use it despite bipartisan pressure. After saying he had invoked it, he said Saturday he wouldn’t. It’s not clear why. The Defense Production Act would allow Trump to push U.S. manufacturers such as automakers and clothing companies to pivot to making medical equipment for hospitals and medical workers who say they are out of equipment or will be soon to treat the expected onslaught of coronavirus patients. (Phillips, 3/22)

CNN: Democratic Senators Move To Force Trump's Hand To Ramp Up Medical Equipment Production 
President Donald Trump might have formally invoked a 1950 law giving him the ability to force factories to produce key equipment needed in the fight against coronavirus and to allocate critical resources where they are needed most. But, the President has also said he doesn't plan to use that power. Now, as bipartisan lawmakers on Capitol Hill have urged Trump to act before it is too late, two Democratic senators are introducing legislation to try to force his hand. (Mattingly and Fox, 3/22)

Reuters: Ford, GM, Tesla Getting 'Go Ahead' To Make Ventilators: Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that U.S. automakers Ford Motor Co, General Motors Co and Tesla Inc had been given the green light to produce ventilators and other items needed during the coronavirus outbreak. “Ford, General Motors and Tesla are being given the go ahead to make ventilators and other metal products, FAST! @fema Go for it auto execs, lets see how good you are?” he said on Twitter. It was not immediately clear what Trump meant by the companies “being given the go ahead.” (3/22)

The Washington Post: 3M Says Shipments Of N95 Masks To New York, Seattle Will Begin Arriving Monday
A large manufacturer of protective N95 masks for medical workers said it is shipping half a million masks to New York and Seattle, with arrivals starting Monday. 3M said it is ready to rush additional shipments across the country and will almost double production of the masks over the next year, to an annual rate of 2 billion masks worldwide. That is a bigger increase than the 30 percent boost the company announced Friday. 3M factories in South Dakota and Nebraska are now producing 35 million N95 masks a month, 90 percent of which are designated for health-care workers after a change in law last week eliminated the threat of lawsuits from such sales. (Whalen, 3/22)

The Hill: 3M To Send 500,000 Respirators To New York, Seattle 
The 3M Company will send 500,000 respirators to New York and Seattle as the cities combat the COVID-19 outbreak, its CEO announced in a statement Sunday. 3M CEO and Chairman Mike Roman said in a statement that the American company has doubled its global output to 1.1 billion N95 respirators per year, amounting to 100 million per month. Factories in the U.S. alone are developing 35 million respirators per month. (Coleman, 3/22)

ABC News: FEMA Administrator Says More Masks Are Being Shipped From Stockpile Amid Shortage 
Critical medical gear is still in short supply as the nation grapples with new coronavirus, and while Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Peter Gaynor said masks are in the midst of shipping from the national stockpile, he could not provide details on a concrete timeline. "They're shipping today, they shipped yesterday, they'll ship tomorrow," Gaynor said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday. (Pezenik, 3/22)

NPR: Medical Volunteers Are Needed But Federal System For Recruiting Them Is Flawed
The Trump administration has done little to take advantage of an emergency system built after 9/11 to recruit volunteer doctors, nurses and other health care workers, even as hospitals scramble to find enough personnel to face a surge of coronavirus-infected patients. The emergency system, maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is aimed at recruiting medical professionals who are willing to volunteer in times of disasters and verifying their medical credentials ahead of time. (Whyte, 3/21)

The Hill: Trump Orders National Guard, Building Of Medical Facilities In NY, Calif., Wash. 
President Trump on Sunday said the National Guard had been activated in New York, California and Washington and that the federal government would provide additional resources to help those states combat the coronavirus. “We’re dealing also with other states. These states have been hit the hardest,” Trump said at a news briefing at the White House. (Samuels, 3/22)

CIDRAP: National Guard Activated For 3 States As US COVID-19 Cases Pass 33,000
Meanwhile, an increasing number of infections and exposures have been reported in lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic. And surges continue in western Europe, with disease activity picking up pace in some African countries, lifting the global total today to 335,957 in 171 countries, 14,632 of them fatal, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard. (Schnirring, 3/22)

Reuters: Trump Says U.S. To Make A Decision On Coronavirus At End Of 15-Day Plan
President Donald Trump said on Sunday the United States will make a decision at the end of a 15-day period on “which way we want to go”, to curb the spread of the coronavirus. “We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself,” he said on Twitter. He did not elaborate. Trump issued new guidelines on March 16 aimed at slowing the spread of the disease over 15 days. (3/23)

The Hill: Trump Approves Disaster Declaration For Coronavirus In California 
President Trump on Sunday approved a disaster declaration for California over cases of the coronavirus spreading in the state. A news release Sunday evening from the White House stated that federal funding would be available for state, local and tribal organizations in California as officials attempt to prevent the further spread of coronavirus. More than 1,600 case have been confirmed in the state. (Bowden, 3/22)