Last week, the Trump administration directed federal health agencies that fall under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to halt all external communications, including publication of scientific reports and health advisories, until February 1. This move is preventing public health agencies, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from issuing potentially life-saving information to the public and medical professionals. This is an attack on science.
While some degree of turnover and re-prioritization is expected during every transition between administrations, the sweeping extent of this directive is concerning. For the first time in more than 60 years, the CDC did not publish its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), a weekly publication featuring real-time public health data and findings that researchers and clinicians around the country rely on. Furthermore, health agencies impacted by this directive, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), have been told that all documents and communications, including regulations, guidance, and press releases, must be reviewed and approved by a presidential appointee. Federal advisory committees and convenings of outside experts that make decisions on biomedical research funding have also been halted.
Critical public health data is on hold
The halt on external publications means that urgent public health data is not reaching the public. For example, last week’s MMWR from the CDC was supposed to include three discoveries related to the worsening H5N1 bird flu virus outbreak, which has already had fatal consequences for food and farmworkers. Public health researchers, medical professionals, and state and local health agencies rely on information published by CDC to inform prevention and response efforts. While bird flu detection data does appear to have been updated since the directive was issued, the CDC has not issued information on its work to respond to spread of the virus in almost two weeks. Delaying publication of science-based information could literally cost lives.
The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics also appears to have paused publication of data briefs, which are summaries of the latest public health data on a variety of topics, from maternal health to drug overdose deaths. As of now, FDA’s Recalls, Outbreaks, and Emergencies website is still active, but it remains unclear what information is deemed “urgent” and continues to be published.
Advisory committees barred from meeting
Panels and meetings among public health experts have also been placed on hold until further notice. Federal scientific advisory committees are typically comprised of experts from academia, state and local government, non-profits, and industry. They are often called on to advise the federal government in decision-making, including on important matters like the COVID-19 pandemic. As of now, gatherings of science advisory committees, like the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, have been halted.
While this order could be lifted later on, signs point to trouble for science advisory committees. Last week, the administration reinstated Executive Order 13875 from President Trump’s first term, which directs all federal agencies to eliminate one-third of federal advisory committees and leaves the decision on which committees to eliminate up to political appointees.
There’s good reason to be alarmed. A UCS analysis found that one year into President Trump’s first term, the administration regularly sidelined scientific advisory committees. Our research found that most federal scientific advisory committees were meeting less than directed in their own charters and that membership had decreased 14 percent. If the administration renews its efforts to sideline science advisory committees, then federal agencies will be less equipped to make informed decisions on matters of great consequence for public health and safety.
HHS could face anti-science leadership
This week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who President Trump appointed to lead HHS, will go through confirmation hearings in the US Senate Committees on Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. RFK Jr.—a lawyer, not a scientist—is best known for peddling conspiracy theories and actively sabotaging efforts to deliver safe and effective vaccines to the public. He is an irresponsible and dangerous pick to lead HHS and, I fear, will only exacerbate President Trump’s anti-science agenda within the federal agencies responsible for protecting public health and safety. What’s already happened is pointing us in a dangerous direction.