
This is how you get your Cabinet nominees confirmed, double quick time, without histrionics. The Democrats stalling RFK, Jr. just ran out of slack. From Gizmodo, a mouthpiece of the left:
https://gizmodo.com/trump-orders-cdc-fda-and-other-health-agencies-to-go-dark-2000553437
Trump Orders CDC, FDA, and Other Health Agencies to Go Dark
The communications pause could be an early sign of things to come under a renewed Trump White House.
By Ed Cara | January 22, 2025The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is going dark, along with other federal agencies within the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This week, the returning Trump administration told these agencies to stop talking to the public—for how long, no one knows.
The Washington Post first broke news of Trump’s sweeping directive late Tuesday evening. Staff at these agencies have been reportedly ordered to cease external communication for the time being. The move is the latest to unnerve outside experts about the direction of the country’s public health infrastructure under Trump.
The order was delivered by Stefanie Spear, a newly hired deputy chief of staff at HHS, according to the Post. Spear was the press secretary for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his 2024 presidential campaign, who has since been nominated by Trump to lead HHS. Affected staff told the Post that the directive lacked specific details, including the reasoning behind it, how long the pause is expected to last, and whether there are any exceptions allowed.
Gizmodo reached out to the HHS for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.
It’s certainly possible that the White House is simply trying to make it easier for its new health officials to transition into their roles. And this isn’t an unprecedented action for the White House to take to accomplish that, according to Carmen Marsit, executive associate dean at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.
“It is not uncommon for a new administration to ask for a pause on communications, website updates, etc, in order for new leadership to review the information, understand how information flows, and then work to continue communications,” Marsit told Gizmodo in an email. At the same time, he added, the scope of this directive is currently unknown, as is its potential impact on the public.
Emerging outbreaks, new discoveries, and noteworthy drug approvals are just some of the many things that agencies like the CDC and FDA regularly communicate to the general public and clinicians. Research led by or conducted with the help of government scientists is also routinely published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), which has often served as an early look into important health trends and crises (the first reported cases of what came to be known as HIV/AIDS, for instance). According to the Post, CDC staff were planning to publish several reports in the MMWR this week, including three concerning H5N1—a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza that has increasingly started to infect cattle, other mammals, and humans since last year.
Halting communication from federal health agencies like the CDC, NIH, and FDA during an administration transition is highly problematic, especially with active public health threats like the H5N1 outbreak in the U.S. and the Marburg outbreak in Tanzania, according to Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease physician in Dallas with experience in global health and pandemic preparedness.
“A blanket suspension of external communication from health agencies is unusual and potentially harmful,” Kuppalli told Gizmodo. “Trust in institutions like the CDC is built on transparency and reliability. A lack of communication could lead to skepticism or distrust, making it harder to re-establish credibility when communication resumes.”
There’s also past history to consider, as the Trump-led White House has a track record of muzzling its federal agencies and scientists. In the early days of Trump’s first term, the administration similarly ordered several agencies, including the United States Department of Agriculture, to temporarily stay quiet (much of this directive was quickly revised, however). More worryingly, the Trump administration prevented health officials from communicating with the press and public in the early months of the covid-19 pandemic, while his staff reportedly later tried to alter reports from the CDC concerning covid-19—allegedly with the goal of downplaying the harms of the pandemic.
The potential next leader of HHS, RFK Jr., has also made it clear that he wants to dramatically change the direction of the country’s public health agencies, and likely not for the better. RFK Jr. has regularly espoused false or misleading statements about vaccines and other health-related topics, for instance, and he’s promised to suspend government-led research on infectious diseases if given the chance. And earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order reinstating his plan to have the U.S. leave the World Health Organization, which has played a vital role in supporting public health globally.
“The CDC collaborates with international partners to tackle global health challenges,” noted Kuppalli, who has previously worked with the WHO as a medical officer on covid-19. “The planned withdrawal from WHO already has implications for the U.S.’ role in global health, but a communication freeze could further undermine the U.S.’ reputation as a leader in public health.”
Should this pause linger on, it may be an early indication that the CDC and other agencies will face new challenges from the Trump administration that might prevent them from communicating honestly with the public. And that’s likely to bode very badly for the rest of us.
“While it is the prerogative of any administration to align federal agencies with their vision and goals, public health must remain a nonpartisan priority,” Kuppalli said. “Ensuring continuity of communication from agencies like the CDC, FDA and NIH during transitional periods is not only wise but essential for safeguarding the health and well-being of the public.”
Federal health employee travel has been curtailed. Participation in and sponsorship of external meetings has also been suspended:
US health agencies cancel external meetings, travel after Trump admin directives
By Julie Steenhuysen - January 23, 2025Summary
* 'One Health' bird flu call canceled this week -source
* Travel ban enacted for all health agency employees
* CDC weekly publication of scientific reports did not publish on ThursdayCHICAGO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - U.S. health agencies including the CDC this week canceled meetings with external groups, paused some public health publications and told employees to freeze travel after directives from the Department of Health and Human Services, two sources familiar with the situation said.
On Wednesday, a state/federal call scheduled for Thursday involving states affected by H5N1 bird flu in dairy cattle and other animals was canceled, one of the sources said. It also postponed a training session for public health practitioners, the source said.
The source said the H5N1 bird flu calls occur on a regular schedule, and was aware only that the Thursday session, which was designated a "One Health" call involving both human and animal health issues, was canceled.
Presidential transitions often involve some pause in communications but the source characterized the current scope as broad.
South Dakota's state veterinarian Beth Thompson confirmed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday canceled an upcoming, regularly scheduled call with state veterinarians that would normally focus on bird flu. "There was no reason given," she said.
However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture did hold a regularly scheduled call on Wednesday on tracing the location of diseased or at-risk animals through its Veterinary Services program, Thompson said.
Scientists and public health officials are growing increasingly concerned about the spread of H5N1 bird flu, which has infected nearly 70 people in the U.S. since April. Most cases have been mild and occurred in farm workers, according to the CDC.
Earlier this month, however, the United States reported its first death from bird flu after an older person was exposed to a combination of backyard chickens and wild birds.
The cancellations followed a memo from acting HHS Secretary Dorothy Fink seen by Reuters that called for an immediate pause on issuing documents and public communications, including on any speaking engagements until the material has been reviewed and approved by a presidential appointee.
The pause is intended to extend through Feb. 1.
HHS said in a statement that its pause was for public communications not directly related to emergencies or critical to preserving health, and said exceptions for mission critical communications would be made on a case-by-case basis.
A travel ban directive was sent in a Jan. 21 memo to financial officers and travel officials within all operating divisions of HHS, including the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and the CDC, according to an HHS official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The travel ban is in effect until further notice, according to the HHS official, who read portions of the memo to Reuters.
It specifies that any speaking engagements that had been accepted prior to Jan. 20 must be canceled.
Travel is only authorized for people who have already departed on an official trip, and the traveler must return to the original point of departure.
Employees from the Indian Health Service are exempted from the suspension.
While a few health communications have been issued since the ban – the FDA on Wednesday put out details of a new safety warning on a drug, for instance – others were canceled.
FIRST PAUSE SINCE 1960
The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report, or MMWR, which includes scientific reports from the agency and outside scientists, was not published on Thursday as planned. HHS did not comment on when publication would resume.
In a post on X, former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said the MMWR, which is used to inform health officials about emerging threats, had been published weekly without pause since 1960. Delays in its publication put Americans' health at risk, Frieden said.
Dr. Jeremy Faust, a Boston-based emergency physician and author of the Inside Medicine newsletter published on the Substack platform, said the NIH was told to halt the process that approves funding for new scientific and medical research, citing an email shown to him by an NIH official.
The memo noted that all such advisory meetings had been canceled, but noted that such work would be rescheduled.