President Donald Trump’s acting secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Dorothy Fink, asked in a memo Tuesday to the heads of all federal health agencies to temporarily halt public communications, pending a review .
NBC News obtained a copy of the memo, which advises leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health to “refrain from publicly releasing any documents” or communications, including regulations and press releases. “until it has been reviewed and approved by a presidential appointee.”
The pause took effect immediately and lasts until February 1.
The memo provided leeway for the release of communications that could be considered a critical health and safety issue.
Communications teams from federal health agencies, including the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services, learned of the pause during a call Tuesday.
“There is a lot of uncertainty right now as this transition occurs,” a CDC official said, adding that it is not “totally unusual” during transitions.
An HHS official said the same thing happened during Trump’s first term.
A short pause in messaging is not uncommon as new administrations get up to speed. The HHS official noted that a small pause is not cause for concern, but could be a problem if it lasts a week or more.
“We are waiting for the new team to come in and establish guidelines,” the HHS official said, “but we have received little direction.”
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The delay could include several reports on bird flu that were due to be released by the CDC on Thursday, an official said. This potential reporting gap comes during a growing outbreak of avian flu, also known as H5N1.
And a senior CDC press officer declined to answer questions about the release of the agency’s seasonal flu report, which is expected to be released Friday.
Instead, the press secretary referred questions to HHS, which did not respond to requests for comment.
Similar requests sent to the CDC, FDA and NIH went unanswered.
Members of the agencies’ communications teams said they expected to get more clarity on the issue as early as Wednesday.
The Washington Post first reported the pause on Tuesday.
