The Trump administration has so far resisted calls to use a Cold War-era law to help fill gaps in medical supplies that are in short supply — arguing that private companies are stepping up without government force.
Vice President Pence said the federal government is sending 4,000 ventilators to New York from the national stockpile.
Pence and other Trump administration officials have maintained that private companies are stepping up without government force. Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters on Sunday that the threat of the Defense Production Act is leverage enough. "What we've seen with this outpouring of volunteers from private enterprise, we're getting what we need without putting the heavy hand of government down," he said.
The White House message on the law has been muddled at times. After being pressed by reporters, Trump said last week that he had directed"a lot" of companies to make ventilators.Then on Tuesday morning, FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor told CNN that the agency would use the law to secure 60,000 coronavirus test kits.
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