- The Trump administration told federal public health agencies like the CDC that they are not to communicate health messages for now.
- The hold includes memos, reports, online posts, website updates and other forms of communication.
- Scientific meetings were also canceled for the time being, including of advisory panels.
The Trump administration has reportedly asked federal health agencies to stop all external communications pending a review. The moratorium will go until at least Feb. 1.
The Washington Post, which first reported the story, said the instructions were delivered Tuesday to staff within the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, among others.
The Associated Press reported that it obtained a copy of the memo in which “acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Dorothy Fink told agency staff leaders Tuesday that an ‘immediate pause’ had been ordered on — among other things — regulations, guidance, announcements, press releases, social media posts and website posts until such communications had been approved by a political appointee.”
The list of communications that are halted includes scientific reports like the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and publication in the Federal Register, as well as advisories for doctors and other health care providers and data from the National Center for Health Statistics on trends, including about drug overdose deaths, maternal mortality and suicide, among other topics.
Per AP, “Fink wrote in her memo that some exceptions would be made for communications affecting ‘critical health, safety, environmental, financial or nation security functions,” but that those would be subject to review. The FDA on Tuesday and Wednesday posted notices about warning letters sent to companies and a drug safety notice.
The New York Times reported that “scientific meetings were canceled and research data on the bird flu outbreak was delayed, amid confusion over the directive.”
That article noted that “experts who serve on outside advisory panels on a range of topics, from antibiotic resistance to deafness, received emails on Wednesday telling them their meetings had been canceled.”
Meetings, memos canceled
The Post said that it got the information “from nearly a dozen current and former officials and people familiar with the matter,” who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Some of them acknowledged that they expected some review during a presidential transition, but said they were confused by the pause’s scope and indeterminate length,” the article said.
The Times added that it had also spoken to federal officials and reviewed an internal memo. “The directive enjoins the release of ‘regulations, guidance documents, and other public documents and communications,’ including any ‘notice, ’grant announcement,’ news releases, speaking engagements or official correspondence with public officials, until they have received approval.
Per the Post, “It was not clear from the new administration’s guidance whether the directive will affect more urgent communications, such as foodborne disease outbreaks, drug approvals and new bird flu cases."
“Members of the Presidential Advisory Council for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria were told that their two-day meeting, scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday, had been canceled “as the new administration considers its plan for managing federal policy and public communications.”
What does the pause mean?
Federal health officials offered several thoughts to the Post on what the pause means, from suggesting it’s a chance for the incoming leadership to understand the process and scope of communication within the agencies to suggesting it’s a chance to shape the messaging to match the administration’s views. When asked, leaders of the various organizations did not respond, but referred all queries to other agencies or to the administration, which also declined direct comment.
“The executive branch is a hierarchy,” Steven Grossman, a former HHS official who now consults for food and drug companies, told the Associated Press by email. “Whether stated publicly or not, every new administration wants important commitments and positions to wait until new teams are in place and some semblance of hierarchy restored.”
Critics warned that with public health, time matters. “Local health officials and doctors depend on the CDC to get disease updates, timely prevention, testing and treatment guidelines and information about outbreaks,” Dr. Jerry Klausner, a University of Southern California public health expert, told AP. “Shutting down public health communications stops a basic function of public health.”
Per the Times, the move was not without precedent. New administrations often limit communication during the early transition days, “but the scope and duration of the latest pause were unexpected.” And previous pauses have not included the 60-year-old CDC mortality and morbidity report and other scientific publications.
The Post noted that during Trump’s first term, several agencies got the same request, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the departments of Agriculture and Interior.
Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of Health and Human Services, but his confirmation hearing is not expected for at least a week.
In his first couple of days in office — he was inaugurated Monday — Trump issued a number of orders, pausing a ban on TikTok, implementing a federal government hiring freeze and ending remote work, tackling immigration including pausing refugee resettlement and closing diversity, equity and inclusion programs, among others.