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C o g e inai e s a c S e r i c
February 23, 2021
The Defense Production Act Committee (DPAC): A Primer
The Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA, 50 U.S.C.
§4501 et seq.) confers on the President authorities to
mobilize domestic industry in service of national defense,
broadly defined, including emergency preparedness. In
2009, the DPA statute was amended to create the DPA
Committee (DPAC), which would serve as an interagency
platform for advising the President and coordinating DPA
activities across the government. This In Focus considers
the establishment, development, and policy issues
surrounding the DPAC, given ongoing congressional
interest in DPA authorities and existing mechanisms for
their current and future implementation.
About the DPA
The DPA provides the President with powers to mobilize
the domestic civilian economy in response to emergencies.
DPA authorities include (1) provisions under Title I to
prioritize contracts and allocate scarce goods, materials, and
services; (2) financial incentives under Title III to expand
productive capacity for critical materials and goods; and (3)
coordination, information-gathering, and other supporting
provisions under Title VII. See CRS Report R43767 for
more information about DPA authorities and history; and
CRS Report R46628 for a survey of DPA actions made in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on
personal protective equipment (PPE).
Except in relatively narrow circumstances involving
defense-related procurement and investments, DPA
authorities have been used sparingly since the Korean War.
When the DPA was enacted, its activities were routed
through the Office of Defense Mobilization (ODM), an
independent executive branch agency which oversaw other
executive branch offices and sub-agencies in executing
DPA and other mobilization functions. However, as DPA
fell into disuse, the ODM and its offices were dismantled.
As the ODM's successor agency, FEMA is the designated
lead for government-wide DPA planning and coordination.
FEMA's role notwithstanding, oversight assessments have
frequently identified coordination issues in utilizing DPA
authorities in response to emergencies. A 2009 amendment
to the DPA statute established the DPAC as a means of
facilitating interagency DPA coordination. However, as
recently as 2019, a pandemic simulation identified
confusion among interagency participants about the
applicability and use of DPA authorities. Amid the COVID-
19 pandemic, DPA coordination and implementation issues
have been frequently raised as an area of concern by
Members of Congress.
DPAC Functions and History
The DPAC is authorized under Title VII of the statute (50
U.S.C. §4567) and was established as part of the Defense
Production Act Reauthorization of 2009 (P.L. 111-67). The
DPAC was intended to serve as an interagency mechanism
for advising the President and coordinating DPA activities
across government. However, it has never organizationally
fulfilled that role-even during emergency situations like
the COVID-19 pandemic-and its scope has narrowed and
diminished with time. In an effort to improve its
effectiveness, the DPAC was restructured when the DPA
was reauthorized in 2014 (P.L. 113-172).
Establishment of the DPAC in 2009
Congressional deliberations over the Senate-introduced
2009 DPA reauthorization suggest the DPAC was created
to serve as the locus of DPA coordination and
implementation. Specifically, the Congressional Record
shows that the DPAC's proposed establishment was linked
to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and
Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports citing
insufficient agency planning and employment of DPA
authorities and a lack of related interagency coordination.
In response, Congress proposed the DPAC to advise the
President on the effective use of [the DPA] and elevate
DPA policy discussions to Cabinet-level posts, so that
administrations going forward will be able to reassess the
[DPA's] provisions and applications, and never lose sight
of the importance of coordinating[.]
The DPAC membership was to include the head of each
federal agency to which the President has delegated [DPA]
authority as well as the Chairperson of the Council of
Economic Advisors. One of these members would be
designated Chairperson of the committee. The President
was also directed to appoint an executive director, without
Senate confirmation, at the rank of a Deputy Assistant
Secretary (or a comparable position) at the federal agency
of the DPAC chairperson, and paid for by that same agency.
Additionally, the 2009 legislation required the DPAC to
submit an annual report to Congress, signed by each DPAC
member, containing specified elements:
* A review of DPA authorities of each federal agency to
which the President has delegated DPA authority;
* Recommendations for effective use of DPA authorities;
* Recommendations for legislation, regulations, executive
orders, or other actions to improve use of DPA
authorities; and
* Recommendations for improving information sharing
between federal agencies for use of DPA authorities.
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