"President Donald Trump signed determinations under the 1950 Defense Production Act, which gives presidents sweeping emergency authority over domestic industry."

"President Donald Trump invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act on Monday to shore up federal funding for a host of energy projects — involving oil, gas, coal and the grid — as the White House moved to buffer climbing electricity and fuel costs.

The president signed a series of determinations under Section 3 of the 1950 law, which gives presidents sweeping emergency authorities to control domestic sectors. The orders target the power grid, natural gas, LNG, the coal sector, and domestic petroleum production, refining and capacity logistics.

A White House official said the determinations are necessary for the Department of Energy to deploy funding that was secured in Republicans’ 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act under Title III of the Defense Production Act."

Hannah Northey and Christa Marshall report for E&E News April 21, 2026. [2]