Lest We Forget: Covid-19, the Defense Production Act, and Executive Order 13,917

Abstract

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump claimed that the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza would not have occurred had he been reelected in 2020. However, during his first presidency, President Trump faced another significant adversary—the COVID-19 pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)—and many contend that Trump’s inadequate response to this viral enemy contributed significantly to his 2020 election loss. Central to the pandemic response was the Defense Production Act, a Cold War–era statute granting broad emergency powers.

This Article argues that the Trump administration fundamentally misunderstood the Defense Production Act, initially by failing to invoke it promptly to secure critical medical supplies, and later by misapplying it via Executive Order 13,917 to compel meat-processing operations in a manner that ultimately prioritized corporate profits over worker safety. With the notable exception of Operation Warp Speed and a few less noteworthy instances, the Trump administration’s use of the Defense Production Act largely failed to safeguard the nation’s public health and harmed vulnerable workers in the meatpacking industry.

Compounding these failures, the meatpacking industry, USDA, and OSHA also largely failed to meaningfully protect these workers, many of whom are members of communities suffering the impacts of marginalization. Meat-processing workers labored in the shadows of public concern under conditions that paralleled the industry’s treatment of animals—both denied meaningful protection, both ultimately treated as disposable. In either case, the underlying assumption seems clear: some lives matter less than money.

This Article ultimately serves as a resource for policymakers and attorneys, highlighting how the Defense Production Act, when judiciously deployed, can effectively safeguard public health, protect worker rights, and affirm the nation’s commitment to valuing human life.