The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is winding down, along with other federal agencies under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This week, the returning Trump administration asked those agencies to stop talking to the public — for how long, no one knows.
The Washington Post first reported the news of Trump’s sweeping directive late Tuesday evening. The staff of these agencies have reportedly been ordered to cease all external communications for the moment. The move is the latest to worry outside experts about the direction of the nation’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 Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s press secretary during his 2024 presidential campaign, who has since been appointed by Trump to lead HHS. Affected staff told the Post that the directive lacked specific details, including the reasoning behind it, the expected length of the break and whether any exceptions were allowed.
Gizmodo reached out to HHS for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
It’s certainly possible that the White House is simply trying to ease the transition of its new health officials into their roles. And it’s not an unprecedented move by the White House to do just 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 request a pause in communications, website updates, etc., so that new leadership will review the information, understand how information flows, and then work to continue communications,” Marsit told Gizmodo in a statement. e-mail. 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 notable drug approvals are just some of the many information that agencies like the CDC and FDA regularly communicate to the general public and clinicians. Research conducted by or conducted with the assistance of government scientists is also regularly published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), which has often served as the first look at important health trends and crises (the first reported cases of what became known as HIV/AIDS, for example). According to the Post, CDC staff planned to publish several reports in the MMWR this week, including three regarding H5N1, a highly pathogenic strain of avian flu that has increasingly begun to infect cattle, other mammals and animals. humans since last year.
Shutting down communication from federal health agencies like the CDC, NIH, and FDA during an administrative transition is highly problematic, especially with active public health threats like the H5N1 outbreak in the United States and the Marburg epidemic 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 communications from health agencies is unusual and potentially dangerous,” Kuppalli told Gizmodo. “Trust in institutions like the CDC is based on transparency and reliability. A lack of communication could lead to skepticism or distrust, making it more difficult to reestablish credibility when communication resumes.
There is also history to consider, since the Trump-led White House has a history of muzzling its federal agencies and scientists. Early in Trump’s first term, the administration also ordered several agencies, including the United States Department of Agriculture, to remain temporarily silent (much of this directive was quickly revised, However). Even more worrying, the Trump administration prevented health officials to communicate with the press and public during the early months of the covid-19 pandemic, while its staff would have tried later to alter CDC reporting regarding covid-19 – allegedly in an effort to minimize the harms of the pandemic.
The next potential leader of HHS, RFK Jr., has also made clear that he wants to dramatically change the direction of the nation’s public health agencies, and probably not for the better. RFK Jr. has routinely made false or misleading statements about vaccines and other health-related topicsfor example, and it is promised suspend government-led research into infectious diseases if given the chance. And earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order restore your plan for the United States to leave the World Health Organization, which has played a critical role in supporting public health globally.
“CDC is collaborating with international partners to address global health challenges,” noted Kuppalli, who previously worked with WHO as a physician on covid-19. “The planned withdrawal of the WHO already has implications for the United States’ role in global health, but a communications freeze could further damage the United States’ reputation as a leader in public health.”
If this pause continues, it could be an early indication that the CDC and other agencies will face new challenges from the Trump administration that could prevent them from communicating honestly with the public. And that probably doesn’t bode well for the rest of us.
“While any administration has the prerogative to align federal agencies with its 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 transition periods is not only wise but essential to protecting the health and well-being of the public.”