The Defense Production Act (DPA) and the
COVID-19 Pandemic: Recent Developments
and Policy Considerations
April 15, 2020
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Administration invoked the Defense Production Act of 1950
(DPA) on multiple occasions to facilitate the manufacture and distribution of medical equipment and
supplies. The full extent of DPA implementation is unclear—to date, there have been six public
announcements describing official DPA implementation actions.
This Insight describes recent DPA actions and reported implementation with regard to the COVID-19
pandemic, and discusses policy considerations for Congress. It is intended as a companion to CRS
Insights IN11280 and IN11231. See CRS Report R43767 for a more in-depth discussion of DPA history
and authorities.
For additional related resources, see the CRS Coronavirus Disease 2019 homepage.
Recent DPA Actions
As of April 15, the Administration has issued three DPA-related executive orders and four memoranda (in
chronological order):
E.O. 13909, Prioritizing and Allocating Health and Medical Resources to Respond to the
Spread of COVID-19 (March 18), delegated authority to the Health and Human Services
(HHS) Secretary for making use of DPA Title I prioritization and allocation authorities to
respond to the pandemic;
E.O. 13910, Preventing Hoarding of Health and Medical Resources to Respond to the
Spread of COVID-19 (March 23), delegated authority to the HHS Secretary, in
coordination with FEMA, to effect anti-hoarding actions using DPA Title I and data
collection under Title VII authorities; and
E.O. 13911, Delegating Additional Authority Under the Defense Production Act With
Respect to Health and Medical Resources to Respond to the Spread of COVID-19 (March
27), delegated authority to the HHS and the Homeland Security (DHS) secretaries,
