7 C.F.R. § 789.2
(a) Section 201 of Executive Order 13603 (3 CFR, 2012 Comp., p. 225) delegates the President's authority under section 101 of the Defense Production Act to require acceptance and priority performance of contracts and orders (other than contracts of employment) to promote the national defense over performance of any other contracts or orders, and to allocate materials, services, and facilities as deemed necessary or appropriate to promote the national defense to the following agencies. Essentially, this allows the following agencies to place priority on the performance of contracts for items and materials under their jurisdiction as required for national defense initiatives including emergency preparedness activities:
(b) Section 202 of Executive Order 13603 specifies that the priorities and allocations authority may be used only to support programs that have been determined in writing as necessary or appropriate to promote the national defense by: