To keep up with health care demands of coronavirus cases, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently said the federal government “should nationalize medical supply acquisition.” But President Donald Trump has been prudent so far in his use of the Defense Production Act (DPA) that could compel American businesses to take their marching orders from Washington.

In a Newsmax commentary, National Center Senior Fellow Horace Cooper, an expert in constitutional law issues, explains that the president’s discretion is a virtue rather than a vice. Blunting criticism of the White House from big government proponents, he writes that “abiding by constitutional precepts and respecting legal limitations are not signs of a do-nothing president.”

To be clear, the DPA was recently invoked to enlist General Motors in producing 100,000 ventilators. But Horace notes that Cuomo’s more all-encompassing demand shows that misuse of this awesome power is a looming threat:

The health and economic crises facing the country are real, and so is the pressure to exceed the president’s statutory and constitutional authority to address them. Even in the face of high profile critics like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, [President Trump] is right to resist.

Created by Congress 70 years ago as a means of assisting in military readiness, the DPA can be effective in focusing federal efforts in areas such as contracting, loans and investments so the nation can be kept at peak preparedness and fighting strength, notes Horace. But there are concerns about the DPA exceeding constitutional limitations...

• The Free Enterprise Project (FEP), the liberty movement’s only full-service shareholder and activism group that’s effective in pushing corporate America to the right;
• Project 21, the liberty movement’s only public relations agency for black conservatives and libertarians that has already created over 40,000 media opportunities;
• The Environment and Enterprise Institute (EEI), which counters misinformation being spread by the environmental left.