On January 21, 2025, according to a memo made available by news outlets, Acting Secretary of HHS, Dr. Dorthy Fink, issued a memo directing the agency’s operating divisions to refrain from most external correspondence, including issuing documents, regulations, guidance, notices, or grant announcements, as well as communications, such as social media, websites, press releases, and communications using listservs, until such material can be approved by “a presidential appointee.” According to the memo, the action is “consistent with precedent” and applies until February 1, 2025. The directive applies to agencies under HHS, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The memo notes that limited exceptions will be made for communications affecting “critical health, safety, environmental, financial or national security functions,” subject to review.
The memo made publicly available by news outlets can be accessed here.
