President Trump has become alarmed after 20 meat packing plants have closed due to the DTMNBN. (Disease That Must Not Be Named) If that had continued it would have led to major shortages of the protein rich meat supply. He is forcing them to stay open using the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure.
The 20 plants were temporarily closed due to pressure from local authorities and unions bent on making the crisis worse than it already has been. Neither one can defy the presidential order and the closed plants will be forced to reopen. Once again, Trump is forced to go it alone as Mitch McConnell and the Republicans once again lack the moral fortitude necessary to battle the Democrats.
Of course, there are still Republicans that will fight like Ted Cruz, Ron Paul and Tom Cotton and one or two more. But not enough to hold the majority. As Pelosi and Schumer try to add their wish list to any future DTMNBN bill, it could very well be up to the president to veto the bills and hope there are not enough votes to override his veto.
More than 20 meatpacking plants have closed temporarily under pressure from local authorities and their own workers because of the virus, including two of the nation’s largest, one in Iowa and one in South Dakota. Others have slowed production as workers have fallen ill or stayed home to avoid getting sick.
“Such closures threaten the continued functioning of the national meat and poultry supply chain, undermining critical infrastructure during the national emergency,” the order states.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents 1.3 million food and retail workers, said Tuesday that 20 food-processing and meatpacking union workers in the U.S. have died of the virus. An estimated 6,500 are sick or have been exposed while working near someone who tested positive, the union says.
As a result, industry leaders have warned that consumers could see meat shortages in a matter of days. Tyson Foods Inc., one of the world’s largest food companies, ran a full-page advertisement in The New York Times and other newspapers Sunday warning, “The food supply chain is breaking.”
“As pork, beef and chicken plants are being forced to close, even for short periods of time, millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain,” it read.