
Infant formula shortage throws the West Wing into crisis mode
CNN
President Joe Biden's West Wing has been thrown into crisis mode over a nationwide shortage of baby formula, with top aides undertaking efforts to restock grocery store shelves while coming under fire for a mess they didn't create and which they're still working to grasp the scope of.
The shortage has opened yet another political wound going into an already challenging midterm election season, frustrating the West Wing and the rest of the administration as they struggle with how little control they have over a situation which is centered at the US Food and Drug Administration, an independent agency which the White House neither controls nor gets direct reports from.
Officials -- who have deployed wartime measures and bypassing normal airfreight routes in response -- are now confronting criticism that the FDA moved too slowly to address warning signs. At the same time, they're attempting to learn whether formula companies are actually short on ingredients, while also trying to tackle potential price gouging.

The alleged drug traffickers killed by the US military in a strike on September 2 were heading to link up with another, larger vessel that was bound for Suriname — a small South American country east of Venezuela – the admiral who oversaw the operation told lawmakers on Thursday according to two sources with direct knowledge of his remarks.

The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications devices, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers on Thursday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of his congressional briefings.











