Trump White House Freezes HHS Communications

Jan. 23, 2025
The incoming administration put a stop to nearly all health agency communications

As of Jan. 22, the incoming Trump administration has frozen most communications routinely posted by the Department of Health and Human Services, effective until at least Feb. 1. There has been no fully public announcement but various media outlets have obtained the text of the order and are sharing its contents.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Associated Press’s Mike Stobbe and Jonel Aleccia wrote that “The Trump administration has put a freeze on many federal health agency communications with the public through at least the end of the month. In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, 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 pause also applies to anything intended to be published in the Federal Register, where the executive branch communicates rules and regulations, and the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientific publication. The pause is in effect through Feb. 1, the memo said. Agencies subject to the HHS directive include the CDC, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration — entities that fight epidemics, protect the nation’s food supply and search for cures to diseases.” And, Stobbe and Aleccia added, “HHS officials did not respond to requests for comment on the pause, which was first reported by The Washington Post. Four federal health officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the issue confirmed the communication pause to the AP.”

Stobbe and Aleccia were referencing a Washington Post breaking-news article by Lena H. Sun, Dan Diamond and Rachel Roubein published earlier yesterday. Sun, Diamond, and Roubein wrote that “The Trump administration has instructed federal health agencies to pause all external communications, such as health advisories, weekly scientific reports, updates to websites and social media posts, according to nearly a dozen current and former officials and other people familiar with the matter. The instructions were delivered Tuesday to staff at agencies inside the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, one day after the new administration took office, according to the people with knowledge, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. 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.”

As the Post reporters noted, “The health agencies are charged with making decisions that touch the lives of every American and are the source of crucial information to health-care providers and organizations across the country. The pause on communications includes scientific reports issued by the CDC, known as the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR); advisories sent out to clinicians on CDC’s health alert network about public health incidents; data updates to the CDC website; and public health data releases from the National Center for Health Statistics, which tracks myriad health trends, including drug overdose deaths,” they noted.

Further, they wrote, “The CDC was scheduled to publish several MMWR reports this week, including three about the H5N1 avian influenza virus outbreak, according to one federal health official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions. 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. Stefanie Spear, an HHS deputy chief of staff, instructed agency staff Tuesday morning to pause external communications, according to two people familiar with the discussions. Spear, who joined HHS this week, is a longtime ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency. Spear did not immediately respond to a request for comment. HHS did not respond to a request for comment. An FDA spokesperson declined to comment and referred questions to HHS. A CDC spokesperson referred questions to HHS.”

Additional new reporting has been published by CNN’s Brenda Goodman and Meg Tirrell, who wrote on Wednesday that, “In a follow-up memo obtained by CNN on Wednesday, Acting Health Secretary Dr. Dorothy Fink provided additional details, including that the directive would be in effect through February 1. The memo told health agency employees to have all documents and communications - including regulations, guidance, notices, social media, websites and press releases - reviewed and approved by a presidential appointee before issuing them. It also directed employees not to participate in any public speaking engagements without approval, and to coordinate with presidential appointees before issuing official correspondence to members of Congress or governors.”

“As the new Administration considers its plan for managing the federal policy and public communications processes, it is important that the President’s appointees and designees have the opportunity to review and approve any regulations, guidance documents, and other public documents and communications (including social media),” Fink said in the memo.

Further, Goodman and Tirrell wrote, “The directive also told employees to notify higher-ups of any documents or communications that should be exempt either because they’re required by law or because they’re critical for health, safety or other reasons. Already Wednesday morning, the FDA sent out a communication about a safety warning added to the multiple sclerosis drug glatiramer acetate, which goes by brand names including Copaxone, for a ‘rare but serious allergic reaction.’”

Meanwhile, the New York Times’s Teddy Rosenbluth, Apoorva Mandavilli, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote that “The fallout was immediate. Officials at the C.D.C. had been prepared to publish an issue of the influential Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Thursday that included several items related to the widening bird flu outbreak on dairy and poultry farms. The weekly reports have been called the “holiest of the holy,” a crucial means of communication about developments in public health. This week’s publication is now held up as a result of the order, according to two federal health officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Upcoming meetings of outside advisory panels on health issues have been canceled, according to panel members, who spoke anonymously for fear of retribution. Meetings to review grant proposals submitted to the National Institutes of Health were scrubbed, for example,” they noted. “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.’ Those who had registered in advance for a celebratory dinner were told they would be ‘fully reimbursed within 48 hours’ of receiving the email.”

This is a developing story. Healthcare Innovation will provide updates as new developments emerge.

 

 

 

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