Trump has had the power to address medical supply shortages. Why hasn’t he used it more? (opinion)

Editor’s Note: In this weekly column “Cross Exam,” Elie Honig, a CNN legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor, gives his take on the latest legal news. Watch Honig answer readers’ questions on “CNN Newsroom with Ana Cabrera” at 5:40 p.m. CNN — Under the Defense Production Act, President Donald Trump holds enormous power to put essential lifesaving equipment into the hands of medical professionals on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis. Elie Honig Jeremy Freeman The DPA gives the President authority not only to order private companies to produce and expedite production of certain essential items – in this case, ventilators, masks and other essential medical resources – but also to allocate such materials. On March 18, Trump said that he would invoke the DPA – likening himself to “a wartime president” – and issued a broad order mentioning the act but not directly ordering production of any specific equipment under the law. The Constitution does not explicitly contain the phrase “right to travel,” but several of its provisions, taken together, do form a latticework of rights relating to free movement: the general right, recognized by the Supreme Court, of citizens to move freely between states; the Privileges and Immunities Clause, which ensures that citizens of one state have the same legal rights when visiting or located in another state; and the Due Process clause, which prohibits the federal government from interfering with the liberty of citizens to move between states without due process of law.