Expert: Defense Production Act is a very powerful presidential weapon

President Biden recently invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA) to speed COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution.

Michael Greenberger, founder and director of the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security (CHHS) and a professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, says the the DPA is a very powerful presidential weapon that is being appropriately used in this case.

He is available for interviews by phone and by Zoom.

RECENT MEDIA:

Maryland Man Bryan Betancur Arrested After GPS Monitor Places Him At US Capitol During Riots, Prosecutors Say

University of Maryland law professor Michael Greenberger analyzes the security measures in place at the Capitol and the rising threat of domestic terrorism in the U.S.

CHHS works on a broad range of homeland security and emergency response issues for federal, state, and local governmental agencies, as well as universities and public health entities. 

Since joining the School of Law in 2001, Professor Greenberger designed and teaches two courses focused on counterterrorism and emergency response, “Homeland Security and the Law of Counterterrorism,” introduced in 2002, and “National Security, Foreign Intelligence, and Privacy,” which was taught for, and taught in, the first time in the Spring 2014 semester. Professor Greenberger also served as the administrator for a course entitled “Freddie Gray’s Baltimore: Past, Present, and Moving Forward,” a course that examines the causes of the 2015 Baltimore unrest and possible solutions by focusing on social, economic and other issues, including policing practices, criminal justice, access to housing, health care, education, joblessness and community development.

He also led the development and oversees the teaching of four related crisis management courses taught by CHHS senior attorney staff members at the law school: “Law and Policy of Emergency Public Health Response;” “Law and Policy of Cybersecurity;” and “Law and Policy of Emergency Management;” and “Cybercrimes.” Professor Greenberger has also taught Constitutional Law and a seminar on “Futures, Options, and Derivatives,” and furthers the academic efforts of the University of Maryland, Baltimore as a member of the Faculty Senate and Faculty Senate Advisory Committee, as well as the Faculty Advisory Council for the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Professor Greenberger is often called upon to lend his extensive professional expertise outside the Center and University.

He is currently a member of the Baltimore Washington Cyber Task Force; served by appointment of the Governor of Maryland on the Commission on Maryland Cybersecurity Innovation and Excellence, and now serves by appointment of the Maryland Attorney General on the Maryland Cybersecurity Council. He is a member of the American Bar Association’s Law and National Security Advisory Committee, and a member of The National Academies’ Committee on Science, Technology, and Law. He has also previously served as both the Vice Chair and Chair of the Maryland Governor’s Emergency Management Advisory Council. Professor Greenberger regularly comments on homeland security and emergency management topics for local and national media outlets, presents at professional conferences, and is among a handful of experts chosen in 2014 on the inaugural Editorial Board for the International Journal for Disaster and Military Medicine.