In a message on Tuesday, Dr. Dorothy Fink, President Donald Trump’s acting secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, directed chiefs of all federal health departments to temporarily halt public communications while a review was conducted.
The memo, which was obtained by NBC News, instructs the heads of the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to hold off on releasing any documents or communications—including press releases and regulations—to the public until they have been examined and approved by a presidential appointee.
The pause began immediately and will end on February 1.
The memo allowed for communications that might be deemed a critical health and safety issue to be released.
During a call Tuesday, communications teams from federal health agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC, were informed of the pause.
According to a CDC official, there is a lot of ambiguity at the moment as this transfer takes place, but it is not completely unusual throughout transitions.
The same thing happened during Trump’s first term, according to an HHS official.
As new administrations catch up, brief message pauses are usual. A brief delay isn’t reason for alarm, but if it persists for a week or longer, the HHS official pointed out that it might be a problem.
The HHS representative stated that we are waiting for the new staff to arrive and provide guidance, but we haven’t received much training.
Due to their lack of public speaking authorization, the two officials talked under the condition of anonymity.
According to one insider, the delay may involve a number of avian flu reports that the CDC was supposed to disclose on Thursday.
The possible discrepancy in bird flu reporting occurs during a growing H5N1 outbreak.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by the FDA, NIH, CDC, or HHS.
As early as Wednesday, according to members of the agency’s communications staff, they should have more information on the situation.
The halt was first reported by The Washington Post on Tuesday.