During his remarks, he referred to the "FEMA Stockpile" when talking about the health products such as PPE. He is the point person for orchestrating the resupply of the stockpile and working with industry.
His labeling it "FEMA Stockpile" was incorrect. The Strategic National Stockpile is owned and managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as reflected by the link provided here.
My goal in highlighting this is not to point to Mr. Navarro's error, but to draw attention to the fact that when you start managing a project or task -- you become totally associated with it. Thus his error.
Why FEMA became involved is anyone's guess, but I perceive it was a lack of confidence in HHS' ability to meet the demands of distributing the stockpile and resupplying it. One can only imagine the inter-agency war that went into the determination to have FEMA step in. It could not have been seamless and there were sure to have been any number of "rear guard actions" by HHS over FEMA proving the leadership and management.
