Biden to survey wildfire damage, make case for spending plan

The President’s visit is aimed primarily at obtaining support for his massive $3.5 trillion spending plan by linking it to beating back wildfires and upgrading social programmes.

President Joe Biden will promote his administration's use of the Defence Production Act, to aid in wildfire preparedness during a western swing, in which he'll survey wildfire damage in Idaho and California. The administration activated the wartime provision in early August to boost the supply of fire hoses for the U.S. Forest Service, by helping to ease supply chain issues affecting the agency's primary firehose supplier. It marks the second use of the wartime law, after the President used it to boost vaccine supplies, and the administration had not previously announced it publicly. The use of the Defence Production Act helped an Oklahoma City nonprofit called NewView Oklahoma, which provides the bulk of the U.S. Forest Service's hoses, obtain needed supplies to produce and ship 415 miles of firehoses. Mr. Biden planned to showcase the move as part of broader remarks on the work his administration has done to address yet another devastating wildfire season across the western U.S.