Presidential Documents
Executive Order 13910 of March 23, 2020
Preventing Hoarding of Health and Medical Resources To Respond to the Spread of COVID–19
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) (the “Act”), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. In Proclamation 9994 of March 13, 2020 (Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID– 19) Outbreak), I declared a national emergency recognizing the threat that the novel (new) coronavirus known as SARS–CoV–2 poses to our Nation’s healthcare systems. In recognizing the public health risk, I noted that on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the outbreak of COVID–19 (the disease caused by SARS–CoV–2) can be characterized as a pandemic. I also noted that while the Federal Government, along with State and local governments, have taken preventive and proactive measures to slow the spread of the virus and to treat those affected, the spread of COVID–19 within our Nation’s communities threatens to strain our Nation’s healthcare systems. To further deal with this threat, on March 18, 2020, I issued Executive Order 13909 (Prioritizing and Allocating Health and Medical Resources to Respond to the Spread of COVID–19), in which I delegated to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) the prioritization and allocation authority under section 101 of the Act with respect to health and medical resources needed to respond to the spread of COVID–19.
To ensure that our Nation’s healthcare systems are able to surge capacity and capability to respond to the spread of COVID–19, it is the policy of the United States that health and medical resources needed to respond to the spread of COVID–19, such as personal protective equipment and sanitizing and disinfecting products, are not hoarded. Accordingly, I am delegating to the Secretary my authority under section 102 of the Act (50 U.S.C. 4512) to prevent hoarding of health and medical resources necessary to respond to the spread of COVID–19 within the United States. I am also delegating to the Secretary my authority under the Act to implement any restrictions on hoarding, including my authority under section 705 of the Act (50 U.S.C. 4555) to gather information, such as information about how supplies of such resources are distributed throughout the Nation.
Sec. 2. Delegation of Authority to Prevent Hoarding.
(a) The Secretary is delegated the following:
- the authority of the President conferred by section 102 of the Act to prevent hoarding of health and medical resources necessary to respond to the spread of COVID–19 within the United States, including the authority to prescribe conditions with respect to the accumulation of such resources, and to designate any material as a scarce material, or as a material the supply of which would be threatened by persons accumulating the material either in excess of reasonable demands of business, personal, or home consumption, or for the purpose of resale at prices in excess of prevailing market prices; and
- the authority of the President to implement the Act contained in subchapter III of chapter 55 of title 50, United States Code (50 U.S.C. 4554, 4555, 4556, and 4560).
