In a White House memo, Trump announced he had authorized General Electric, Hill-Rom Holdings, Medtronic, ResMed, Philips and Vyaire to begin manufacturing the desperately needed machines and directed Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to ensure they had the necessary supplies.

Trump invoked the Korean War-era act for the first time last week when he ordered auto-maker General Motors to begin producing ventilators after negotiations between the two appeared to fall through.

The Defense Production Act gives the federal government sweeping powers to order private companies to turn assembly lines over to produce goods needed during a crisis.