#Defenseproductionact story is one of the most indefensible (and there are many) about WH #coronavirus response. The Act doesn't just alter manufacturing priorities; importantly, it also allows for gov. to pay "market value" for goods already in market to limit price gauging. 1/
It is this second piece that is more significant given the pressing need for goods today. As we have seen, a lot of this stuff is already in the market but it is a sellers market, so private sector is just going to highest bidder (feds or foreign). 2/
Finally, a lot of the media coverage of #DefenseProductionAct calls it a Korean War statute. It is, but it has been revised to include #homelandsecurity efforts since 2001. In other words, US envisioned its use for domestic threats and Trump has used it for border purposes. 3/3
