The Trump administration has instructed federal health agencies to pause all external communications, including health advisories, weekly scientific reports, updates to websites and social media posts, according to reports by CNN and the Washington Post.
These orders were conveyed on Jan. 21 to staff at agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), such as the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health. This directive was issued just one day after the new administration took office.
The halt in communications includes the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, advisories sent to clinicians via the CDC’s Health Alert Network regarding public health incidents, updates to the CDC and CMS websites and public health data releases from the National Center for Health Statistics.
By the afternoon of Jan. 22, CMS had removed news releases from its website, leaving only a Roundup from Jan. 10.
“HHS has paused mass communications and public appearances that are not directly related to emergencies or critical to preserving health,” a CMS spokesperson told Home Health Care News. “This is a short pause to allow the new team to set up a process for review and prioritization. There are exceptions for announcements that HHS divisions believe are mission critical, but they will be made on a case-by-case basis.”
In a memo obtained by CNN, Acting Health Secretary Dr. Dorothy Fink said the directive would remain in effect until Feb. 1.
The memo instructed health agency employees to have all documents and communications — such as regulations, guidance, notices, social media posts, websites and press releases — reviewed and approved by a presidential appointee before issuing them. It also directed employees not to engage in any public speaking engagements without prior approval and to coordinate with presidential appointees before sending official correspondence to members of Congress or governors.
“In light of the new administration’s approach to managing federal policy and public communications, it is essential that the president’s appointees and designees review and approve any regulations, guidance documents and other public communications, including social media,” Fink reportedly wrote in the memo.
Furthermore, the directive instructed employees to notify their superiors about any documents or communications that should be exempt from the review process, either because they are legally required or deemed critical for health, safety or other reasons.
