President Joe Biden signed a waiver to expand the Department of Defense’s authority in accelerating projects to strengthen defense-critical supply chains.
The presidential waiver of statutory requirements was signed on Tuesday to enable the use of the Defense Production Act Title III incentives and remove certain spending limitations, DOD said.
President Biden’s February 2021 executive order on America’s supply chains disclosed critical supply chain vulnerabilities such as insufficient manufacturing capacity, short-term returns and misaligned incentives. The supply chains mentioned in the EO will be covered under the waiver.
The new waiver is expected to help DOD make longer-term investments in workforce development, electronics, minerals and materials, kinetic capabilities, and power and energy storage.
“This authorization allows the Department of Defense to act with urgency and efficiency in shoring up America’s supply chains and strengthening our national security,” said Anthony Di Stasio, director of the DOD Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization Office.
