The Trump administration has moved quickly to crack down on health and science institutions, canceling a series of scientific conferences and canceling all public appearances, including an upcoming report focused on the nation's escalating bird flu crisis. It directed federal health officials to refrain from communicating.
Experts who serve on external advisory committees on topics ranging from antibiotic resistance to hearing loss received an email on Wednesday informing them that their meetings had been cancelled.
The cancellation follows a directive issued by the acting secretary of the federal Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday prohibiting publication. According to federal officials and an internal memo reviewed by the New York Times, any public communication was prohibited pending review by the president's appointees or designees.
The directive requires the publication of “regulatory, guidance documents, and other official documents and communications,” including all “notices,” “grant announcements,” news releases, lectures and official communications with public officials, until approval is obtained. is prohibited.
The new restrictions apply to messages in email groups and social media posts, and include a ban on publication in the Federal Register, without which many public proceedings would not be able to continue. Some of the notices sent by the Biden administration in its final weeks were quickly rescinded.
The cancellations and communications crackdown have sent chills through Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials and the broader scientific community. The directive was first reported by the Washington Post.
Representatives for the CDC and Food and Drug Administration declined to comment. The suspension will last until February 1st.
The impact was immediate.
CDC officials were preparing to issue an influential Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Thursday, which included a report on growing avian influenza outbreaks on dairy farms and poultry farms. Several related items were included.
The weekly report has been called “the holiest of holies” and is an important communication tool for public health developments. This week's publication has been put on hold 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.
Future meetings of the External Advisory Committee on Health Issues have been canceled, according to the members, who spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation. For example, a meeting to review grant proposals submitted to the National Institutes of Health was canceled.
Members of the President's Advisory Council to Combat Antibiotic Resistance have scheduled a two-day meeting for next Tuesday and Wednesday “as the new administration considers federal policy and public communications management plans.” I was told that it had been cancelled.
Those who had registered in advance for the celebratory dinner were told that they would receive a “full refund within 48 hours” of receiving an email.
The directive was signed by Dr. Dorothy Fink, Acting Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Confirmation hearings for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump's nominee to head the department, are not expected to take place for at least another week.
The administration has not yet named an acting CDC director or acting head of the Food and Drug Administration, which is typically one of the first moves of an incoming administration.
The communication outage follows a series of changes federal employees have faced since Trump's inauguration on Monday, including a hiring freeze, an end to remote work, and changes to the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and programs. This includes closures.
Late Wednesday, Dr. Fink issued another directive aimed at ending diversity and inclusion efforts at HHS and not attempting to “disguise these programs through the use of coded or imprecise language.” I warned you. Her letter also encouraged employees to report co-workers who don't comply.
Former federal officials said it is not unusual for new administrations to restrict communications early in a transition, but the scope and duration of this outage was unexpected.
Officials in the incoming Trump administration did not use the transition period to meet with federal health officials or familiarize themselves with government agencies.
And while communications outages are not unusual, previous administrations did not restrict scientific publications such as the MMWR or health guidelines because they are critical to public welfare.
“It's not unusual for a new administration to want to centralize communications.” said Dr. Richard Besser, chief executive of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former acting director of the CDC.
“It is unusual to suspend all communications from a government agency whose primary responsibility is to keep the public informed,” he added.
Multiple federal officials privately said they were confused about whether the Federal Register communications restrictions included health data. Some officials appear to have no knowledge of this restriction.
Much of the concern centers on the CDC, whose responsibilities certainly include public communications. For example, the agency recently made doctors and patients aware of the potential health risks associated with a new version of mpox and an outbreak of Marburg disease in Rwanda.
The agency presents findings on the mental health impact of the pandemic on health care workers and new guidelines extending recommendations for pneumococcal vaccines and the increasing incidence of tularemia, a rare infectious disease, in the United States. warned about.
Chrissy Giuliano, executive director of the Metropolitan Health Coalition, said state and city health officials need to make decisions for their communities, such as when to ramp up influenza testing and which symptoms of the disease to watch for. They say they are relying on the CDC's notice. City public health sector leaders.
She said she hoped the government had a plan to disseminate more urgent public health information, especially public health information, although much of the information could be delayed by several days. in Relationship with the avian influenza epidemic.
Last year, an avian influenza virus called H5N1 affected dozens of animal species and more than 35 million wild and commercial birds, resulting in soaring egg prices. At least 67 people were also infected. The country recorded its first human death from bird flu in December.
“Wouldn't a disease like bird flu be cured for a penny in 10 days?'' Giuliano said. “Yes. If such a signal is confirmed at the federal level, we expect information to be leaked.”
Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University's School of Public Health and a former coronavirus czar in the Biden administration, said the communications shutdown was a “particularly difficult transition” to the Trump White House rather than a coordinated policy. He said it was likely a product of migration. Efforts to hide information.
Still, public health experts are wary of changes to access to federal health data. Memories remain fresh that political appointees repeatedly interfered with CDC reports and doctored guidance documents during Trump's final term.
“I think we will have a much more serious problem if the infection spreads beyond February 1,” Dr. Jha said.
