From E&ENews: How the Defense Production Act became a disaster law.
Thanks to Chris Jones for the citation.
Update: NYTimes article: It’s High Time We Fought This Virus the American Way.
The administration has all the authority it needs to produce medical supplies and prepare for a potential vaccine.
April 4: 
Update on April 3. This opinion piece by Michele Goldberg of the NY Times makes the point that Kushner’s role is not only unusual, but dangerous. See: Jared Kushner Is Going to Get Us All Killed. Trump’s son-in-law has no business running the coronavirus response.
Also April 3, from WashPost: Why is Jared Kushner in charge of anything?’ Trump’s son-in-law sparks outcry, confusion after coronavirus briefing debut
Update on April 2. From the NYTimes: Kushner Puts Himself in Middle of White House’s Chaotic Coronavirus Response. President Trump’s son-in-law has become a central player in the administration’s effort to curb the pandemic. But critics say he is part of the problem.
From Politico this rather surprising account of a new, private-sector group at work at FEMA: Behind the scenes, Kushner takes charge of coronavirus response. Trump’s son-in-law sets up shop at FEMA as his portfolio balloons to include manufacturing, supplies and long-term planning.
From The American Enterprise Institute: National Coronavirus Response; A Road Map to Reopening. 20 pp.
It appears that a plan to do an after action report similar to the one done by the 911 Commission is in the works. See: The U.S. needs to know what went wrong
New report from the National Academy of Sciences: Exploring Lessons Learned from a Century of Outbreaks; Readiness for 2030: Proceedings of a Workshop.
As is true of all NAS reports, you can download all or part of the book free from the NAS website.
The Diva has not had time to read this report, other than the introductory chapter; she invites a reader to do a review.
From Politico: There is no surge plan’: Despite warnings, Congress failed to fully fund pandemics bill. Public-health experts complained that budget cuts were undermining preparedness. Congress did not take heed. An excerpt:
Rather than appropriate the advised $820 million-plus for public health grants and $470 million-plus for hospital preparedness that fell under the 2019 pandemic act, Congress only agreed to spend about $675 million and $275 million, respectively. Lawmakers, public health experts and Capitol Hill staff told POLITICO it’s well in keeping with Congress’ pattern of chipping away at domestic spending when times are good and only loosening the purse strings once a crisis is already underway
From Eric Holdeman, fellow blogger: FEMA Administrator Asks State and Local Emergency Managers for Help! Don’t wait until you “see the whites of their eyes” in this coronavirus battle.
Note: Eric is the former EM Director for King County, WA.
From HuffPost: The U.S. Military Hasn’t Faced A Threat Like Coronavirus In A Century. Troops say commanders aren’t taking the pandemic seriously, and a former Army epidemiologist says the military has “done a poor job” responding to the crisis.
On Thursday, the military newspaper Task & Purpose — which has done excellent work documenting the coronavirus outbreak in the armed forces — obtained an alarming document sent by the Department of the Army at the Pentagon to all U.S. Army commands.
“Mitigation measures taken by the U.S. Army to blunt the spread of COVID-19 have proven insufficient,” the message read. “COVID-19 continues to spread geographically as the number of infected persons continues to rise.”
The document warned additional measures and actions needed to be taken to prevent the virus from spreading further, and instructed rapid response forces at bases in the U.S. and abroad to go into “Health Protection Condition Delta,” the highest level of alert.
The Diva has reported on several dimensions of this crisis and it seems no sector of society has distinguished itself with adequate planning and anticipatory actions.
From Politico: Forget Washington — corporate America is focused on governors right now. An excerpt:
With the Trump administration taking a backseat to state leaders on coronavirus mitigation, companies and trade associations that traditionally rely on relationships with Washington power brokers are instead being forced to reckon with newly emboldened statehouse executives to deal with a fast-evolving commercial crisis.
From the WashPost: It’s easy to blame Trump for this fiasco. But there’s a much larger story. Some excerpts:
In a searing essay in the Atlantic, Ed Yong writes, “Rudderless, blindsided, lethargic, and uncoordinated, America has mishandled the COVID-19 crisis to a substantially worse degree than what every health expert I’ve spoken with had feared.”
Why did this happen? It’s easy to blame Trump, and the president has been inept from the start. But there is a much larger story behind this fiasco. The United States is paying the price today for decades of defunding government, politicizing independent agencies, fetishizing local control, and demeaning and disparaging government workers and bureaucrats.
In a searing essay in the Atlantic, Ed Yong writes, “Rudderless, blindsided, lethargic, and uncoordinated, America has mishandled the COVID-19 crisis to a substantially worse degree than what every health expert I’ve spoken with had feared.”
Why did this happen? It’s easy to blame Trump, and the president has been inept from the start. But there is a much larger story behind this fiasco. The United States is paying the price today for decades of defunding government, politicizing independent agencies, fetishizing local control, and demeaning and disparaging government workers and bureaucrats.
Recovery Diva 