Barbara McQuade

Opinion contributor

Plan the work, and work the plan. That is the mantra of crisis response. Even though the U.S. government has a plan that could be used to address the coronavirus, you'd never know it from how President Donald Trump is handling this pandemic.

Since 9/11, the federal government has been working on plans to respond to terror attacks and natural disasters. At the Department of Justice, I served as a crisis management coordinator and participated in planning, training and exercises with representatives from other government agencies and hospitals in Michigan. We planned for the worst at special events, such as the Super Bowl, World Series and NCAA Final Four and for hypothetical crises like dirty bombs, attacks on shopping malls, oil spills and outbreaks of disease.

In 2005, President George W. Bush announced the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, and the following year, his administration rolled out an implementation plan. The plan has been updated as recently as 2017 and provides a blueprint for the administration to act during the current outbreak.

Federal command, control and coordination are covered in the plan. It makes the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security responsible for coordinating federal operations and resources for federal, state and local governments, the private sector and non-government organizations. DHS has lacked a Senate-confirmed secretary since Kirstjen Nielsen resigned a year ago, and the absence shows.

The Trump administration should be taking the steps laid out in the Bush road map. Among them:

1. Surge resources to areas that are most impacted.

These assets include supplies from the national strategic stockpile and medical personnel. To date, the Trump administration’s delivery of protective equipment from the national stockpile has been uneven. Trump has instead urged states to buy their own equipment, stating during a March 19 briefing that his administration is “not a shipping clerk.”

The federal government could coordinate the distribution of needed supplies rather than having states go it alone and bid against each other as they face shortages. The Defense Production Act authorizes the president to place orders with manufacturers of equipment that take priority over all other orders. Only recently has Trump used this authority to direct manufacturers to make respirators after initially taking a laissez-faire approach.

The same statute also allows the president to allocate the distribution of materials, though to date, the president has failed to do so. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has suggested a strategy in which ventilators could first be sent to states like his, where the need is great, and then moved to other areas as the pandemic shifts to different parts of the country. Such a coordinated response is just what the implementation plan envisions and can come only from national leadership.

2. Provide technical assistance and support to state and local communities.

The implementation plan says that while decisions about containment measures, such as social distancing, are to be made by local communities, the federal government should provide support including “unambiguous and consistent” advice. President Trump’s messaging has been a moving target on the seriousness of the outbreak and the need to stay home, resulting in confusion.

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Governors in Florida and Georgia had resisted issuing orders to stay home until only recently. Earlier last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he had not issued such an order at least in part because the White House had not told him to do so. Some states still have not issued stay-at-home orders. Accurate advice from President Trump to stay home and close businesses could make such orders more politically feasible for elected officials in states where he enjoys substantial support.

3. Communicate “candid messages” with the public to reduce exposure and limit transmission.

Here is where Trump should be using what Theodore Roosevelt referred to as the “bully pulpit” of the presidency to influence public opinion. Containing an epidemic requires individuals to comply with new rules despite substantial inconvenience or even economic harm. Convincing people to do so takes leadership that Trump could provide.

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For instance, Trump could use his daily press briefings to model social distancing. Instead, we see administration officials standing next to each other, shaking hands and touching the same podium. When the surgeon general advised people to wear a mask in public places, Trump said he would not wear one.

Trump can also use his platform to guide faith leaders to prevent further outbreak. Some churches are defying advice to close their doors or limit attendance, incorrectly arguing that the First Amendment right to free exercise of religion precludes the government from closing places of worship. While free exercise of religion is a fundamental right, it is not completely free from governmental regulation.

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Government restraints on exercising religion are permitted as long as there is a compelling governmental interest that is narrowly tailored to achieve its purpose. Preventing a deadly disease by banning all gatherings for a limited time would meet that test. Moreover, where, as here, the restraint is neutral and applies the public generally, places of worship enjoy no special exception. As Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson wrote in 1949, the Bill of Rights is not a suicide pact. If Trump were to communicate this message to the public, he could increase compliance and save lives.

Bush’s plan, as revised over the past 15 years, provides a path through this deadly crisis. But the plan is useless if it is ignored.

Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, is a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, an NBC and MSNBC legal analyst and a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors. Follow her on Twitter: @BarbMcQuade