After mid-March 2020, the Federal government made a major move to use the US military to initiate and lead an effort to rapidly grow Covid-19 intensive care facilities nationwide. The US Army Corps of Engineers, under existing statutory authority that comes from authorizations and powers of FEMA, will be rapidly leasing a large number of buildings across the US in hotels and in larger open buildings to immediately grow the number of rooms and beds with ICU capability for patients of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. A public briefing of the plan was given by Army General Todd Semonite on 20 March 2020.