Republicans are sounding the alarm after discovering baby formula is being sent to border facilities while American mothers are facing emp...
Republicans are sounding the alarm after discovering baby formula is being sent to border facilities while American mothers are facing empty shelves amid massive shortages.
And President Joe Biden's administration is struggling to respond, unable to reassure parents when there will be more formula on empty grocery store shelves and where they can turn to for help.
GOP Representative Kat Cammack tweeted Thursday two images, one showing full shelves of baby formula and food from a processing center at the southern border and another showing empty shelves where baby formula was supposed to be at an American grocery store.
'The first photo is from this morning at the Ursula Processing Center at the U.S. border. Shelves and pallets packed with baby formula,' Cammack wrote. 'The second is from a shelf right here at home. Formula is scarce.'
'This is what America last looks like,' she added.
Meanwhile, concerned parents are begging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reopen the nation's largest baby formula plant after the nationwide shortage has left their infants hungry and ill.
But the White House on Thursday defended the closure of the Abbott plant but officials couldn't say when it would reopen.
'The reason we're here is because the FDA took a step to ensure that babies were taking safe formula. There were babies who died from taking this formula so they were doing their jobs,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at her daily press briefing.
President Joe Biden got personally involved on Thursday when he met with executives from infant formula manufactures and retailers including Target, Walmart and Nestle's Gerber to discuss the issue.
Biden spoke with manufacturers Reckitt and Gerber about their efforts to increase production.
'Both companies stated that they are operating 24/7 with Gerber, increasing the amount of their infant formula available to consumers by approximately 50% in March and April. Reckitt is supplying more than 30% more product year to date,' the White House said in a readout of the president's meeting.
And his administration announced additional steps it was taking to boost the production of baby formula.
But officials were short on specifics. They couldn't say when the Abbott plant would reopen, they couldn't say when more baby formula would be for sale and Psaki couldn't offer any options when asked who parents can call for help.
The White House defended the FDA's closure of the Abbott plant that resulted in a shortage of baby formula; 'There were babies who died from taking this formula so they were doing their jobs,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said
GOP Representative Kat Cammack tweeted Thursday outrage over border centers being fully stocked with baby formula while American grocery stores are seeing massive shortages and empty shelves where formula should be
The administration did acknowledge the frustration.
'We absolutely recognize the frustration of parents and family,' a senior administration official said on a briefing call with reporters but added: 'I don't have a particular timeline for you' when asked when parents would see some relief.
The officials also didn't know when Abbott Nutrition's Sturgis, Michigan, plant - one of the largest producers of formula - would be back online.
'We do not today have an estimate for accessibility will come on line. But as we just said that the administration is working around the clock to do everything we can to to bring as much production to market,' the official said.
Abbott said that pending FDA approval, 'we could restart the site within two weeks.'
Once production began, it would take six weeks to eight weeks for the baby formula to be available on shelves.
Among the steps the administration announced was cutting red tape when it comes to the size of the formula.
'We recognize that this is certainly a challenge for people across the country, something the President is very focused on and we're going to do everything we can to cut red tape and and take steps to increase supply on the marketplace,' Psaki said.
Manufacturers typically make multiple sized containers of the product and government programs like WIC often limit what size can be purchased. The administration is working to change those limits to ease the burden on manufactuers and let them rush out one size.
Officials also said the administration would work to increase the imports of baby formula but would have more details available on that at a later date.
And the administration is calling on state attorneys general to crack down on price gouging. Formula has been going for up to $120 a can as desperate parents try to feed their children.
Biden sent a letter on the matter to the Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan on Thursday.
'It is unacceptable for families to lose time and spend hundreds of dollars more because of price gougers’ actions,' he wrote.
'I therefore ask that the Commission further examine whether there is price gouging in infant formula occurring, thoroughly investigate complaints brought to you through channels such as your fraud hotline, and that you bring all of the Commission’s tools to bear if you uncover any wrongdoing. We know State attorneys general are also examining this issue and may be valuable partners in this effort.'
Republican Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Marco Rubio of Florida have called on the administration to use the Defense Production Act to get more formula produced.
The White House did not rule it out.
'We're gonna keep every option on the table,' the senior administration official said.
Psaki also said it was an option.
'You have to ensure that it would actually achieve what you're trying to achieve,' she said of using the act.
The formal shortage came in part due to a voluntary recall of several lines of powdered formula from Abbott Nutrition, which is the largest formula manufacturer in the U.S.
Meanwhile, more than 100 House Republicans are demanding that the administration do more to address the crisis.
'This issue is a matter of life and death, and it is time this administration treats it with the appropriate urgency it deserves,' the GOP lawmakers said in the letter to the president on Wednesday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that there needs to be immediate action to address the baby formula shortage in the U.S., but Congress isn't holding hearings on the issue until the end of the month as mothers scramble to feed their babies.
'You know, everybody has suggestions about 'we make sure it never happens again.' And that's important,' she said during her weekly briefing Thursday.
'But right now, the baby's crying, the baby's hungry. We need to address it right now,' she added. 'And I think we have good focus on it.'
The nationwide share of out-of-stock baby formula hit 40 percent in April
Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota, seemingly hardest hit by the shortages, reported out-of-stock rates of about 50 percent
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