In less than a month’s time, President Joe Biden has twice invoked wartime production powers in an effort to show he’s confronting problems.
That effort, however, could worsen the perception that he’s remained out of touch with multiple crises unfolding on his watch.
Biden’s first use of the Defense Production Act came in mid-May, when he activated the Korean War-era authority to boost the production and importation of baby formula. His second came this week with the invocation of the DPA to advance his climate agenda, including by increasing imports of clean energy equipment.
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Critics have decried the first use of the DPA as belated and the second as unnecessary.
“He is in a bubble filled with woke youngsters who think this is what people care about,” David Carney, a Republican strategist, told the Washington Examiner. “They’re focusing on the little trinkets out on the periphery of what would have any impact on what is going on in Americans’ economic life.”
Biden’s climate-related order will “accelerate domestic production” of clean energy equipment such as solar panels, according to the White House, in part by using tools that allow the federal government to invest more aggressively in contracts with private companies.
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His use of the DPA will also boost production of heat pumps, building insulation, and electric equipment that can produce renewable fuels.
Beyond the DPA, Biden also said his administration would hold off on imposing tariffs on many imported solar goods — a move seemingly at odds with his pledge to focus on creating jobs in the solar manufacturing industry but aligned with his pledge to increase clean energy reliance.
The White House struggled to articulate this week what national security emergency required such drastic moves from the president.
“The president’s action will help ensure that we have the solar capacity additions necessary to meet our electricity and … generation needs,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.
“The [DPA] should only be used in a dire and real national emergency, not a political or contrived one,” Brad Blakeman, a Republican strategist and former adviser to President George W. Bush, told the Washington Examiner. “Federalizing production is interfering with private industry and commerce.”
“It is an abuse of power that is clearly politically motivated,” said Blakeman, who argued the president’s use of the DPA to boost baby formula production was also political and wrong.
Biden has faced sharp criticism for failing to act sooner on the baby formula shortage, which has left more than 70% of retail shelves bereft of the vital product.
Experts say the cause of the crisis was exacerbated by a massive recall in February of powdered formula produced at Abbott Nutrition’s plant in Michigan. Industry leaders began warning at the time of the recall that a shortage was looming due to the suspension of operations at the plant.
Although the president has said he learned about the formula snarls in April, he did not invoke the DPA until mid-May to address the crisis.
Biden’s opponents have argued he could do far more to ease the pain of the formula shortage, particularly by loosening regulations on what kind of foreign baby formula the United States can import.
While the Biden administration is presently paying to bring airplane loads of formula to the country through Operation Fly Formula, the only formula eligible for importation under the operation is that which meets current regulations.
Criticizing the clean energy DPA, Blakeman recalled the controversy surrounding Solyndra, a now-defunct solar company that raked in millions from the Obama administration to produce novel solar technology, only to implode two years later.
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“You cannot legislate or mandate innovation,” Blakeman said. “Innovation is brought about by need, demand, and economics.”
Polls, meanwhile, have shown voters fixated on the rising cost of living, with gas prices set to breach $5 per gallon nationally and the cost of everyday goods continuing to climb.
Far fewer voters, even in deeply Democratic areas, cite climate change as a top concern.
