Amid a deluge of executive actions, the Trump administration has asked federal health agencies to pause external communications, such as regular scientific reports, updates to websites and health advisories, according to sources within the agencies.
The orders were delivered Tuesday to staff at agencies inside the US Department of Health and Human Services, including to officials at the US Food and Drug Administration, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the story.
The direction came without warning and with little guidance as to what exactly it covered, according to sources inside the affected agencies who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to share the information. One source said the reason for the pause and its duration were not communicated.
A source familiar with the directive said that while it wasn’t entirely unheard of for an incoming administration to ask for a pause to review information before it’s publicly released, the scope of the order appeared to be unusual.
America’s health agencies, including the CDC, FDA and the NIH, routinely release information on food recalls, drug and medical device approvals, as well as updates on evolving public health threats including natural disasters and infectious diseases. Many of the agencies have been closely tracking and reporting new information on the H5N1 bird flu outbreak, which is spreading in the nation’s poultry flocks and dairy cattle and among people who work with those animals.
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The direction was given by Stefanie Spear, a deputy chief of staff at HHS who joined the agency this week, according to the Post. Spear was the press secretary for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his 2024 presidential campaign. Kennedy is Trump’s pick for HHS secretary but must be confirmed by the Senate before assuming the role.
“A temporary pause in the flow of health information should not be cause for concern,” said Dr. Brian Castrucci, who is president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, a nonprofit which studies and seeks to support the nation’s public health workforce.
“The question is how extensively is that pause enforced? If there is something that requires immediate action, it needs to be communicated because lapsed time means lost lives.”