While unprecedented in the scope of directed spending, the billion-dollar authority federal agencies now have under a Korean War-era law will speed the production of needed pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and supplies necessary to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, a Heritage Foundation expert on the Defense Production Act’s scope said on Thursday. The law makes clear to a manufacturer the government order for masks or anything else “comes before any other customer,” said retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr, the director of Heritage’s Center for National Defense, during a Heritage Foundation webinar. The Pentagon traditionally has been the most frequent user of … Continue reading Panel Outlines Benefits and Perils of the Defense Production Act