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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with other federal agencies under the umbrella of the US Department of Health and Human Services, are being blackballed. Back this week, the Trump administration told those agencies to stop talking to the public — for how long, no one knows.
The Washington Post first reported on Trump’s broad directive Tuesday evening. It is reported that the employees of these institutions have been ordered to stop external communication for the time being. It’s the latest move that worries outside experts about the direction of the nation’s public health infrastructure under Trump.
According to the post, the order was delivered by Stephanie Spear, the newly hired deputy chief of staff at HHS. Spear was press secretary to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his 2024 presidential campaign, and has since been nominated by Trump to lead HHS. Affected workers told the Post that the directive includes specific details, including the reasoning behind it, how long the break will last and whether any exceptions are allowed.
Gizmodo reached out to HHS for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
No doubt the White House is simply trying to ease new health officials into their roles. According to Carmen Marsit, executive associate dean of Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, it’s not an unprecedented move by the White House to make it happen.
“It’s not unusual for new management to ask for a pause in communications, website updates, etc., so that the new management can review the data, understand how the data is flowing, and then try to resume communication,” Marsit told Gizmodo. e-mail. At the same time, he added, the scope of this directive and its potential impact on the public are currently unknown.
Emerging epidemics, new discoveries, and notable drug approvals are just some of the many that agencies like the CDC and FDA regularly communicate to the general public and clinicians. Research led by or assisted by government scientists is also published regularly in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), which often serves as an early look at important health trends and crises (the first cases were reported such as what is known as HIV/AIDS). According to the post, CDC staff had planned to publish several reports in MMWR this week, including H5N1, a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu that has been infecting cattle, other mammals and humans since last year.
With active public health threats such as the H5N1 outbreak in the US and the Marburg outbreak in Tanzania, Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease, it is extremely problematic to cut ties with federal health agencies such as the CDC, NIH, and FDA during management transitions. Physician in Dallas with expertise in global health and pandemic preparedness.
“Closing all external contact with health agencies is unusual and potentially harmful,” Kuppalli told Gizmodo. “Trust in institutions like the CDC is built on transparency and credibility. A lack of communication can lead to skepticism or mistrust, which makes it difficult to restore trust when communication is restored.”
There is also a past history to consider, as the Trump White House has a track record of silencing federal agencies and scientists. In the early days of Trump’s first term, the administration similarly ordered several agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to temporarily shut down (most of this directive quickly revised, but). More worrying is the Trump administration prevented healthcare workers in the early months of the covid-19 pandemic when communicating with the press and the public, while their staff it is reported that an attempt was made later Altering reports from the CDC about covid-19 – ostensibly to minimize the damage of the pandemic.
The potential next leader of HHS, RFK Jr., has announced that he wants to drastically change the direction of the nation’s public health authorities, and most likely not for the better. RFK Jr. regularly makes false or misleading statements about vaccinations and other health-related topicsfor example, and he promised stopping government research into infectious diseases if given the chance. And earlier this week, Trump signed the executive order restores the plan The withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization, which plays an important role in supporting public health globally.
“CDC is collaborating with international partners to fight global health challenges,” said Kuppalli, who previously worked with WHO as a health worker on covid-19. “The planned withdrawal from the WHO is already affecting the US role in global health, but the communication freeze could further undermine the US’s reputation as a leader in public health.”
If this hiatus continues, it could be an early indication that the CDC and other agencies will face new challenges that could prevent the Trump administration from communicating honestly with the public. And it will likely be very bad for the rest of us.
“While it is within the power of any administration to align federal agencies with its vision and goals, public health must remain a nonpartisan priority,” Kuppalli said. “Ensuring continuity of engagement with agencies such as the CDC, FDA and NIH during transition periods is not only wise, but also essential to protect the health and welfare of the public.”