President Donald Trump’s acting secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Dorothy Fink, instructed heads of all federal health agencies in a memo Tuesday to temporarily stop 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 issuing any document” or communication, including regulations and press releases, “until it has been reviewed and approved by a Presidential appointee.”
The pause took effect immediately and lasts through Feb. 1.
The memo left wiggle room for the release of communications that could be considered a matter of critical health and safety.
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’s a lot of uncertainty right now as this transition occurs,” a CDC official said, adding that it’s not “totally out of the ordinary” during transitions.
An HHS official said the same occurred 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 isn’t a cause for concern, but that it could be an issue if it lasts a week or more.
“We’re holding for the new team to come in and set guidance,” the HHS official said, “but we’ve had little instruction.”
The two officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The delay could include several reports on bird flu that were set to be released Thursday by the CDC, one official said. That potential gap in reporting comes during an escalating outbreak of bird flu, also called H5N1.
And a senior press officer for the CDC declined to answer questions about whether the agency’s seasonal flu report, expected to release on Friday, will be posted.
Instead, the press officer deferred questions to HHS, which has not responded to requests for comment.
Similar requests sent to CDC, FDA and NIH went unanswered.
Members of the agencies’ communications teams said they expected to get more clarity on the matter as early as Wednesday.
The Washington Post first reported the pause on Tuesday.