Top Biden Officials Responsible For Leading Supply Chain Task Force Never Even Showed Up To Meetings: Report

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack never attended meetings of the task force he co-chaired to help resolve the nation’s supply chain According to the Functional Government Institute, woes are evident in a public records request.

The Functional Government Institute obtained public records from the Agriculture Department. It revealed that the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force was created two years ago by the White House. However, the Task Force had no leadership. Only 19 pages were produced by the Agriculture Department. records After five months, the Functional Government Institute filed a federal lawsuit against the entity. 14 pages were copied from statements made public about the initiative. None of the records offered evidence that Vilsack and his deputies had attended any meetings.

“As the administration rightly recognized in creating the Task Force, supply chain issues threaten the economic and national security of the country,” Peter McGinnis, spokesperson of Functional Government Institute, said in a press release. “Secretary Vilsack’s failure to convene a single meeting with his fellow leaders, while dedicating federal resources to investigate and blame the private sector, shows that the Task Force was little more than a cynical attempt to signal engagement on supply chain disruptions while, in fact, doing little or nothing.”

According to a June 2021 report, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was named co-chair of the task force with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. statement The White House stated that officials would concentrate on products like construction materials, semiconductors and food supplies. Vilsack stated in another. press release He was keen to “mobilize a whole-of-government effort to address the short-term supply challenges our country faces as it recovers.”

The Functional Government Institute noted that Buttigieg’s calendars during his two-month paternity leave He also indicated that he didn’t participate in any meetings related to the initiative. Buttigieg has been more active in the initiative’s development. vacationed Portugal was facing the possibility of a national rail strike at the end last year.

Many governments around the globe imposed lockdowns and health mandates that caused supply chain shocks. This contributed to inflation. An analysis of the data shows that sectors most affected by foreign bottleneck exposure such as automotive manufacturing, textiles, basic metals, and other industries saw the greatest inflationary pressures. analysis From the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

After industry leaders pressured the Biden administration, the creation of the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force was made. “strong leadership” In addressing the crisis “The supply chain disruption issues, especially the congestion affecting our key maritime ports, are causing significant challenges for America’s retailers,” Matthew Shay, National Retail Federation CEO, wrote in letter President Joe Biden “As the administration undergoes supply chain reviews for critical sectors, including transportation, addressing the current state of our nation’s ports and freight movement needs to be a critical component of the strategy.”

Officials from the Biden administration have nonetheless taken credit for some reduction in price rises. Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary, recently noted that “we continue to see improvement in supply chains” During an interview NPR claimed that inflation “has really been quite moderate, quite low for the last six months or so,” Even though prices rise, they remain well above the 2% annual rate that was seen before the lockdown-induced depression.