Trump administration temporarily silences federal health officials

The Trump administration, moving quickly to crack down on health and science agencies, canceled a series of scientific meetings and asked federal health officials to refrain from any public communications, including upcoming reports focused on escalation of the bird flu crisis in the country.

Experts who serve on external advisory panels on a range of topics, from antibiotic resistance to deafness, received emails Wednesday telling them their meetings had been canceled.

The cancellations followed a directive issued Tuesday by the acting director of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, which prohibited the public broadcast of any public communication until it has been reviewed by an individual appointed or designated by the president, according to federal officials and an internal memo reviewed by The New York Times.

The directive prohibits the public publication of “regulations, guidance documents and other public documents and communications”, including any “notices”, “grant announcements”, press releases, speeches or official correspondence with public officials , until they have received approval.

The new restriction applies to messages sent to email groups and social media posts, and includes a ban on announcements in the Federal Register, without which many official processes cannot continue. Some notices sent by the Biden administration in its final week were quickly withdrawn.

The cancellations and suppression of communications sent chills down the spines of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees and the broader scientific community. The directive was first reported by the Washington Post.