Thursday President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to help mitigate the nationwide baby formula shortage.

Used during wartime, he allows the president to allocate and prioritize goods — in this case, baby formula ingredients.

“Today I’m invoking what they call the Defense Production Act to ensure that manufacturers have the necessary ingredients to make safe, healthy infant formula here at home,” Biden said in a statement from the White House.

 

 

 

Much of the problem is due to halted production at the Abbott facility, since the company is one of only four manufacturers that together produce about 90 percent of the country’s supply.

 

 

 

The President is also launching “Operation Fly Formula,” which means the US can fly in baby formula from Canada and overseas.