Capitol Hill and White House seize on baby formula shortage

After the nationwide baby formula shortage began dominating news headlines — and after some Republicans began publicly demanding more action from the Biden administration — White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday the administration has been working on the formula issue for "months." 

The run on baby formula follows the closure of a single Abbott facility in Michigan where much of the country's formula is made. Abbott is the nation's largest manufacturer of formula, and at this point, 40% of the nation's formula is out of stock.

Senior administration officials told reporters on a call Thursday that its months-long attention to the shortages is the reason baby formula production in the last four weeks has at least matched production in the four weeks prior to the closure of the Abbott plant. But critics are questioning why shortages have become so severe and why the government is only taking certain actions now, if the administration had already been aggressively tackling the issue.