Wartime powers to fight the baby formula shortage

Biden taps the Defense Production Act to help fix ongoing baby formula shortage; 500,000 people flee floods in northeast India.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

Invoking the Defense Production Act to fix the baby formula shortage

Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

• President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act on Wednesday to address the ongoing baby formula shortage. [CNN / Maegan Vazquez]
• Under the act, suppliers of crucial ingredients will be required to prioritize delivery to baby formula producers before other customers, to boost production and supply. [Washington Post / Andrew Jeong]
• In February, Abbott, the largest baby formula producer in the US, shut down its Michigan factory when bacterial infections hospitalized four babies. Two of the infants died; the factory closure has exacerbated existing supply issues. [Associated Press / Zeke Miller and Kevin Freking]
• In addition to the DPA, Biden announced “Operation Fly Formula,” authorizing government agencies to use military aircraft to pick up and distribute formula from abroad that meets US health and safety standards. [Business Insider / Kelsey Vlamis]
• The House passed a bill expanding what formula parents can buy under the federal food program WIC (which accounts for roughly half of US baby formula sales), and one providing $28 million to help the FDA hire staff who can ensure formula safety also passed. Only the former appears to have a chance of passing the Senate. [New York Times / Annie Karni and Emily Cochrane]
• During testimony to Congress Thursday, FDA commissioner Robert Califf said parents should begin seeing more formula on store shelves within days. Still, it will be weeks until the supply returns to normal. [NBC News / Dareh Gregorian]

Half a million flee northeast India flooding

• More than 500,000 people in the northeastern Indian state of Assam have evacuated from their homes, amid severe flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains that have killed at least seven people. [Reuters / Zarir Hussain]
• For several days the Brahmaputra River, one of the world’s largest, overflowed, submerging almost 1,500 villages. India has sent its military to help with rescue and recovery efforts. [The Wire]
• While flooding is typical for northeastern India, scientists say it’s been worsened by climate change melting Himalayan glaciers, causing more frequent flooding. [CBS News / Arshad R. Zargar]
• On Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department forecasted the heavy rains to last two more days. [Times of India]

A grand jury indicted the 18-year-old man accused of killing 10 people in a racist mass shooting in Buffalo, New York. [AP / Carolyn Thompson]

• The Senate voted Thursday to provide $40 billion in military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine with only Republican opposition. [Washington Post / Mike DeBonis and Dan Lamothe]
• Israel won’t investigate the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, reportedly out of concern over how a probe of its soldiers would be received by the Israeli public. [Al Jazeera]
• According to a Census Bureau survey of housing units, the 2020 Census may have miscounted the population of 14 states. [NYT / Michael Wines]

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“With everything going on right now, the last thing a family should have to worry about is feeding their children.”

[Rep. Jahana Hayes, a sponsor of the bill on the formula shortage / NYT]

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