Thread by @jonallendc

There are, of course, different ways of choosing to run a government’s response to a national crisis. @PhilMcCausland @cfarivar and I, with some help from @akarl_smith, have spent the last several weeks detailing how President Trump and his task force approached it.

1/x

We’ve spoken to senior administration officials who say Trump has been a singular force in providing relief and federal, state and local officials who say his slow reaction, subversion of existing response system and favorite-playing in getting and giving supplies did harm.
2/x

In several articles, we’ve laid out what we found in non-public federal documents and interviews with WH officials, agency officials, state and local officials, major corporations, small contractors, lawmakers, health system experts, veterans’ advocates et al
3/x

As the task force model was built out to 7 interagency subunits working out of FEMA HQ, Admiral Polowczyk, working closely with Kusher, pushed his supply chain team to buy every supply in sight, creating bidding wars w/states when Trump said govs should find their own stuff.
4/x

Contracting was done on the fly and outside normal rules — providing benefit of speed but drawbacks of unvetted suppliers, little attention to cost and favoritism. While it’s not unusual for no-bid contracts to be awarded to react fast to a disaster, pros typically decide.
5/x

One official familiar with the ad hoc process told us the new system “cost weeks” in procurement and distribution of needed medical supplies. As POTUS publicly laid responsibility on the state & local levels, his task force was inverting a FEMA protocol that is bottom up.
7/x

Upending the existing system in which local contractors go through regional FEMA offices with check-writing authority, vendors were routed to the federal level. While they waited, contracts were drawn for corporations and often middlemen with little history of federal work.
8/x

At each turn, the president publicly praised companies by name, emphasizing the private sector as the engine of the response. It is inaccurate to say he has not used the Defense Production Act to acquire goods. He has. But he has turned the law’s authority on its head. 9/x

Instead of using it for maximum public benefit, he has deployed it to give companies massive contracts that will lead to extensive profit and to indemnify them — which mixes public and private benefits. The marquee piece of that effort is called Project Airbridge. 9/x

We detailed how it works: his supply chain task force — a subunit under Polowczyk working with Kushner — pays FedEx and other carriers to fly goods from overseas to U.S. distributors (Cardinal, McKesson et al). In exchange, 20% of goods are claimed by the federal government. 10/x

In addition, the task force claims the right to direct half of the remaining goods (40% of the original stock) to areas it chooses — ostensibly based on greatest need, but with the caveat that algorithmic needs can be and are over-ruled at the political level. 11/x

The remaining 40% of the goods go to existing customers of the companies involved. The set-up has led to claims that FEMA re-routed deliveries at the last minute. What really happened in many cases is that customers were denied orders because feds controlled 60% of distro. 12/x

Some claims of “FEMA” grabbing goods arise from the FBI and Customs stopping shipments under import/export controls under the auspices of DOJ anti-hoarding/anti-gouging task force. Seized goods are sometimes sold to federal agencies, resulting in more claims of “hijacking.” 13/x

In one case we wrote extensively about, HHS ordered as many as 4.5 million DuPont coveralls. Taxpayers footed the bill for FedEx to fly material to Vietnam, Grainger bought the coveralls from DuPont at $4 per pair. Uncle Sam bought for $8/pair, paid FedEx for return flight. 14/x

Acquisition efforts, from outbidding states to cutting deals with companies to give feds control of most distribution to seizing shipments gave Trump power over scarce life-saving goods. Sr. admin officials say govs ask for more than they need and actual need should prevail. 16/x

However, Trump has been very clear that showing him “appreciation” matters in the allocation of federal assistance. We showed how political allies and Democrats who suck up to him have been given help and praise while critics have been condemned and penalized. 17/x

His campaign is using the kind words of Democratic governors who were begging for supplies as a means of showing his efforts have been non-partisan. And while he has highlighted shipments made on behalf of Republicans in tough races, his favoritism is not strictly partisan. 18/x

Having centralized power over acquisition and allocation of ventilators, PPE and testing capacity, Trump has begun to transition the public role of his White House to an advisory one and placed more accountability and responsibility for outcomes on states. 19/x

That is part and parcel of his “Reopening America Again” plan. We reported this week that even as he projected a death toll of less than 70,000, his agencies were buying more than 100,000 new body bags and seeking 200 refrigerated trailers to hold dead people. 20/x

We also reported, according to internal documents, task force officials are worried the risks to reopening include a lack of available tests, the absence of a vaccine or effective treatment, lack of trust in gov messaging and possible “catastrophic resurgence of COVID-19 20/x

The president says that the economic calamity of stay-at-home rules is also a risk of mass fatalities, and he allowed his national guidelines to expire this week. He had held off since initially wanting to pull them back around Easter. 21/x

What our reporting so far shows is a successful White House effort to consolidate power over goods while pushing as much responsibility and accountability for outcomes to state and local officials as possible. Voters and history will judge if it was optimal for the people. 23/x

Here are the stories so far:

nbcnews.com/politics/white…

nbcnews.com/politics/polit…

nbcnews.com/politics/white…

nbcnews.com/news/us-news/v…

nbcnews.com/politics/white…

More reporting to come ...

(h/t to @sinderbrand & @fstonenyc for incredible editing work)

24/24