Washington: President Biden said if his administration is unable to mitigate the problem, he would consider deploying the National Guard to help with supply-chain bottlenecks that have led to shortages and high consumer costs.
Asked about the deployment of the National Guard, Mr Biden said during a CNN town hall on Thursday, “The answer is yes, if we can’t move forward—increase the number of truck drivers, which we are in the process of doing.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday dismissed the possibility, saying the president has the authority to make such an order, but state-level deployment is up to the governors. “We are not actively asking them to do so and we are not actively pursuing the use of the National Guard at the federal level,” she said.
Bill Sullivan, executive vice president of advocacy with the American Trucking Association, a trade group, said National Guard members who have commercial driver’s licenses are already driving commercially.
“And the freight network is private, so which company’s products will the National Guard carry?” Mr Sullivan said in a statement. “While we understand why the elected officials are looking to all possible officers for help, deploying guards to handle freight is not feasible and will further complicate the current situation.”
Republicans have criticized Biden over supply chain bottlenecks, raising concerns that Christmas gifts will be delayed and saying the president is not doing enough.
The US supply chain has struggled to adapt to the crush of imports, as consumers have shifted from services to household goods, including electronics, and as businesses race to restore pandemic-battered inventories . Hundreds of thousands of containers got stuck at Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, West Coast gateways that move more than a quarter of all US imports. The waiting time extended to three weeks. The shortage of truck drivers and warehouse workers has also created problems in supply chains.
“What you have to do is you have to get these ships in and off,” Mr Biden said.
Mr Biden declined to provide a timetable for when he might deploy the National Guard, if he decides to do so.
“First of all, I want to get the ports up and running and the railroads and rail heads and trucks in the port ready to move,” he said.
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