President Obama signed the National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive Order on March 16, which expands upon a prior order issued in 1950 for Disaster Preparedness. This order gives the President complete control over all U.S. resources in times of war or emergency.
Under the order, the President has this power in both wartime and peacetime to control and allocate energy, food, production, transportation and water resources. And, each cabinet office has specific powers – the Secretary of Agriculture has power over food resources, food resource facilities, livestock resources, veterinary resources, plant health resources and the domestic distribution of farm equipment and commercial fertilizer.
To read more, including historical orders and possible reasons for issuing this order, click here.
Click here to review the full Executive Order.