- Details
- By Elyse Wild
The Trump administration ordered a pause on public communications for several federal health agencies, including the Indian Health Service, which provides healthcare to millions of American Indian and Alaska Native people.
The directive also applies to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration.
In a Jan. 21 memo to the heads of Department of Health & Human Services operating divisions last week, Acting Secretary Dorothy Fink directed agencies to halt regulations, guidance, announcements, press releases, social media posts and website posts until approved by a political appointee. It will be in effect until at least the end of the month.
Affected communications include the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) published by the CDC; advisories about public health incidents; data updates to the CDC website; and public health data releases from the National Center for Health Statistics, which tracks various health trends, including drug overdose deaths.
The administration has not provided a reason for the order.
The Washington Post reported that while it is typical for new administrations to pause outgoing communication for review, processes for outgoing communications are usually in place by inauguration day. An anonymous source told the Post that the freeze “seemed more about letting them catch their breath and know what is going on” about communications.
An IHS official told Native New Online in an email that there are exceptions for announcements that HHS divisions believe are mission critical, but they will be made on a case-by-case basis.
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