Trump administration orders ‘immediate pause’ on HHS communications: reports

Author(s):

Richard Payerchin

Key Takeaways

HHS has paused public health communications pending political appointee approval, affecting agencies like CDC and FDA.
The pause may last until Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation as HHS Secretary, which faces opposition.
Exceptions to the communication halt are allowed for critical health, safety, and security issues.
Despite the pause, the FDA continues to issue safety communications and warning letters.

AP, Washington Post say order came down during President Donald Trump’s first full day in office.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is beginning an “immediate pause” on public health communications, according to news reports.

Acting HHS Secretary Dorothy Fink on Jan. 21 ordered the agency’s leaders to stop issuing regulations, guidance, announcements, press releases, social media posts and website posts until those communications were approved by a political appointee, according to an Associated Press report. The AP obtained a copy of Fink’s memo. The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported HHS Deputy Chief of Staff Stefanie Spear, instructed staff on the same order that day.

The pause will last at least until Feb. 1, the AP report said, citing the memo. It was unclear if it might last until the Senate considers confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump's nominee to lead HHS. As of Jan. 22, it was unclear when the Senate might hold a confirmation hearing for Kennedy. The Bloomberg Government news outlet cited Senate Finance Committee Chair Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said a confirmation hearing the week of Jan. 27 “wasn’t likely” because the committee had not yet received a report from the Office of Government Ethics and other paperwork. Advancing American Freedom, an advocacy group founded by Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence, has called on Senate Republicans to bounce Kennedy as unqualified to lead HHS, according to a report from Politico. Reasons range from Kennedy’s past use of heroin, to support for drug legalization and abortion rights, to expressions about vaccine conspiracy theories, according to Politico and U.S. News & World Report.

The pause on communications applies to the HHS agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which was set to publish its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, and the National Institutes of Health, according to AP. CDC this week was scheduled to publish several of those reports this week, including three about the H5N1 avian influenza outbreak, according to The Washington Post.

The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report report is the same one that Trump’s political appointees attempted to gain control over due to publishing information about the COVID-19 pandemic that conflicted with messaging from the White House, the AP reported.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also is part of the pause, according to AP, but not every single pronouncement was ended. Fink wrote in her memo that some exceptions would be made for communications affecting “critical health, safety, environmental, financial or nation security functions,” but that those would be subject to review, the Associated Press report said.

FDA’s official website published notices of 11 warning letters sent to companies about various inspections and findings of violation of current good manufacturing practices and other rules. On Jan. 22, FDA also issued a drug safety communication warning about a rare but serious allergic reaction with the medicine glatiramer acetate (Copaxone, Glatopa), used to treat patients with multiple sclerosis.