Expanded Use of the Defense Production Act and Focus on Building the Domestic Supply Chain: What Companies Need To Know

Arnold & Porter – In the first full day of his administration, President Biden issued 10 executive orders to serve as the cornerstone of what the Administration is calling the "National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness." Aimed at, among other things, expanding testing and accelerating the administration of the vaccine, the executive orders include in their authority the potential for continued use of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA) to require the manufacture and supply of equipment and other supplies needed for the federal government's COVID-19 response.