Trump Administration Halts FDA, CDC, NIH External Communications on January 21, 2025

Jan 22, 2025, 02:06 AM

The Trump administration has instructed federal health agencies to pause all external communications, including health advisories, weekly scientific reports, updates to websites, and social media posts, according to a report by The Washington Post. The directive was communicated to staff at agencies under the Department of Health and Human Services, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), on January 21, 2025. The Washington Post cited nearly a dozen current and former officials and other sources familiar with the instructions. It remains unclear whether the directive includes communications about urgent matters such as foodborne illness outbreaks, drug approvals, or new cases of avian influenza. Some officials speculate that the new Trump administration's health officials might be trying to understand the flow of information from these agencies.