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Business/Financial

Trump Gives Ag Secretary DPA Authorities To Boost Domestic Supply Of Herbicide Material Important For Defense

By Cal Biesecker

Thursday, February 19th, 2026

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Trump Gives Ag Secretary DPA Authorities To Boost Domestic Supply Of Herbicide Material Important For Defense

President Donald Trump's official White House portrait. Photo: White House

President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued an executive order directing the Agriculture Department to use the Defense Production Act (DPA) to boost the domestic supply of a critical mineral used in herbicides and defense products. The directive says there is one U.S. producer of elemental phosphorous, which is used for smoke, illumination and incendiary devices, semiconductors in radar, solar cells, sensors, optoelectronics and lithium-ion batteries that are part of defense supply chains. Elemental phosphorous is also a precursor element used…

Congress

With $1.5 Trillion Request, Army, Air Force, Navy’s Unfunded Lists Focus Solely On MILCON Projects

With the Trump administration’s push to massively increase defense spending to $1.5 trillion in fiscal year 2027, the Army, Air Force and Navy have eschewed submitting large unfunded priorities lists […]

Unmanned Systems

Bipartisan House Bill Would Give National Guard To Counter-Drone Authorities

Seeking to close gaps that may arise between state and local law enforcers in different jurisdictions, a bipartisan contingent of House members this week introduced a bill that would allow […]

Congress

Munitions Fired Represent Most of $25 Billion Spent By Pentagon on Iran War So Far

Munitions fired in the two-month old “Operation Epic Fury” against Iran represent most of the $25 billion cost the Pentagon has incurred thus far in the conflict, the acting Defense […]

Congress

Slotkin: Pentagon Should Use Anthropic’s Mythos To Spot Cyber Security Gaps

The Pentagon should be using Anthropic‘s recently announced Mythos artificial intelligence model to spot gaps in cyber security, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said on Tuesda. “I think the thing that […]