Trump calls off meetings, communications at federal health agencies

Federal health agencies are canceled—well, their meetings are at least.

In the days following his inauguration, President Donald Trump’s administration asked officials within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—which has a $1.7 trillion budget and includes the FDA, the CDC, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—to stop all external communication, according to an internal memo. This means no new health advisories, social media posts, or website posts.

“As the new administration considers its plan for managing the federal policy and public communications processes, it is important that the president’s appointees and designees have the opportunity to review and approve any regulations, guidance documents, and other public documents and communications (including social media),” the memo read.

The pause began on Jan. 21, and according to the memo, will remain in effect until Feb. 1. 

“The president’s appointees intend to review documents and communications expeditiously and return to a more regular process as soon as possible,” it continued.

Meetings. The Trump administration also reportedly canceled meetings at these same health agencies without rescheduling them. The reasons for these cancellations and how long they will remain canceled are unclear.

According to Stat, this included meetings for NIH’s study sections, which look at grant and fellowship applications, as well as meetings of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee and the Presidential Advisory Council for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.

Michael Abrams, managing partner at health consulting firm Numerof & Associates, told Healthcare Brew that many believe “Trump is planning to change direction on a lot of things,” and that the president “probably doesn’t want communication…that run contrary to his change of direction.”

“Otherwise, the administration itself winds up looking like it’s contradicting itself,” he said.

However, Norman Sharpless, former director of the National Cancer Institute, told Stat that canceling these meetings could have consequences.

“If study sections and advisory council meetings are postponed for more than even a brief period, this will likely lead to interruptions in grant funding, which is bad for US biomedical research,” he told Stat.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment by publication.