Trump administration freezes many health agency reports and online posts
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 [January 23, 2025]
By MIKE STOBBE and JONEL ALECCIA
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.
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.
A former HHS official said Wednesday that it’s not unusual for incoming
administrations to pause agency communications for review. But
typically, officials working on the president’s transition team have the
process for issuing documents running smoothly by inauguration day.
“The executive branch is a hierarchy,” said Steven Grossman, who now
consults for food and drug companies, in an 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.”
A pause is reasonable as a changing executive branch takes steps to
become coordinated, said Dr. Ali Khan, a former CDC outbreak
investigator who is now dean of the University of Nebraska’s public
health college.
“The only concern would be is if this is a prelude to going back to a
prior approach of silencing the agencies around a political narrative,”
he added.
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President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press as Director
Robert Redfield, right, looks at the headquarters of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, March 6, 2020. (Hyosub
Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, file)
 During his first term, President
Donald Trump’s political appointees tried to gain control over the
CDC’s MMWR journal, which had published information about the
COVID-19 pandemic that conflicted with messaging from the White
House.
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.
A consumer advocacy group said the communications pause could still
threaten public safety.
Americans depend on timely information from the CDC, the FDA and
other agencies to avoid foodborne illnesses and stay aware of other
health issues, said Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for
Science in the Public Interest.
“When it comes to stopping outbreaks, every second counts,” Lurie
said in a statement. “Confusion around the vaguely worded gag order
is likely to lead to unnecessary delay in publishing urgent public
alerts during active outbreaks.”
He was echoed by Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a University of Southern
California public health expert.
“Local health officials and doctors depend on the CDC to get disease
updates, timely prevention, testing and treatment guidelines and
information about outbreaks,” Klausner wrote in an email. “Shutting
down public health communication stops a basic function of public
health. Imagine if the government turned off fire sirens or other
warning systems.”
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AP health writer Matthew Perrone in Washington contributed to this
report.
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