Delegating Authority Under the Defense Production Act With Respect to Food Supply Chain Resources During the National Emergency Caused by the Outbreak of COVID- 19

The order delegates to the Secretary of Agriculture the President's authority under Section 101 of the Defense Production Act to require performance of contracts, allocate materials and services, and set nationwide priorities for food supply chain resources — specifically beef, pork, and poultry. The Secretary is directed to use this authority to ensure meat and poultry processors continue operating in line with joint CDC and OSHA guidance. The Secretary may also identify additional food supply chain resources that qualify for the same treatment. The delegation applies notwithstanding the general National Defense Resources Preparedness framework of Executive Order 13603.

The Secretary is required to issue orders and adopt or revise rules and regulations as needed to implement the directive. The order does not itself compel any specific processor to act; that compulsion flows from subsequent orders the Secretary issues under the delegated authority. Standard limiting clauses apply: no new enforceable rights are created, implementation is subject to appropriations, and existing agency authorities are not diminished.

Beef, pork, and poultry processing facilities across the United States, state governments whose closure orders may conflict with the federal DPA priority, the Department of Agriculture, and consumers relying on grocery-store protein supplies that flow through large centralized processing plants.

Large meat and poultry plants that were shut down by state pandemic orders could be required to reopen or stay open under federal compulsion. A single large beef facility closure can eliminate more than 10 million daily servings, so the order directly affects the protein supply reaching grocery store chains nationwide.

The Secretary of Agriculture immediately holds DPA Section 101(b) authority — previously reserved to the President under EO 13603 — and is required to use it for food supply chain continuity. The Secretary consults with other agency heads as needed, then issues facility-level orders and rules. CDC and OSHA joint guidance on safe operations serves as the operating standard processors must meet. No sunset clause or congressional notification requirement appears in the text; the delegation persists for the duration of the COVID-19 national emergency.