On January 21, 2025, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Acting Secretary Dorothy A. Fink, MD, issued a directive, Immediate Pause on Issuing Documents and Public Communications, in effect through February 1. Dr. Fink instructed HHS agency leaders – including those at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – to take the following steps:
- Refrain from sending any document intended for publication to the Office of the Federal Register until it has been reviewed and approved by a Presidential appointee.
- Refrain from publicly issuing any document (e.g., regulation, guidance, notice, grant announcement) or communication (e.g., social media, websites, press releases, and communications using listservs) until it has been reviewed and approved by a Presidential appointee.
- Refrain from participating in any public speaking engagement until the event and material have been reviewed and approved by a Presidential appointee.
- Coordinate with Presidential appointees prior to issuing official correspondence to public officials (e.g., members of Congress, governors) or containing interpretations or statements of Department regulations or policy.
- Notify the Executive Secretary promptly of any documents or communications that you believe should not be subject to the directives in #1-4, e.g., because they are required by law or affect critical health, safety, environmental, financial, or national security functions of the Department.
According to our colleagues, the directive is not without precedent, as previous administrations have paused agency communications for review at the start of the new term. However, the directive came without warning, and the pause is longer and broader in scope than these agencies have seen in the past. The science and health communities are concerned that this directive, when considered alongside the government-wide hiring freeze and cancellation of diversity initiatives, signals the Trump administration’s intention to more closely control health agencies’ work and communications with the public.
Several NIH activities have already been impacted by this directive:
- Advisory committee meetings have been postponed or even cancelled, including the National Advisory Council of Aging’s (NACA) winter session.
- Research grant review panels – also known as study sections – have been cancelled, meaning that NIH cannot make new research awards at this time.
- According to FABBS researchers, NIH-trainings have been cancelled, with some workshops being interrupted midstream.
- NIH scientists were told that the pause included orders to outside suppliers, severely limiting purchasing by agency staff.
In addition to the HHS directive, Glenda Conroy, NIH’s Deputy Chief Financial Officer, has directed agency leaders to immediately and indefinitely suspend travel.
In the midst of the widespread uncertainty, the administration named Dr. Matthew Memoli to serve as Acting NIH Director until the Senate confirms Trump’s nominee, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. Previous reports had indicated that Dr. Lawrence Tabak, NIH’s Principal Deputy Director, would lead the agency in the interim. Dr. Memoli is a researcher at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) who gained national attention during the Covid-19 pandemic for his opposition to vaccine mandates.
On January 27, Dr. Memoli issued a memo to NIH leaders intended to reduce confusion surrounding the HHS directive. The memo has not been officially published but, according to Science, it did clarify the current restrictions on travel and purchasing by NIH staff. Most notably, clinical trials at NIH’s Clinical Center and NIH-funded institutions will continue, with patients allowed to travel to and from NIH. The memo also stated that the purchase freeze does not apply to anything related to human or animal safety/healthcare or security. Still, intramural scientists cannot initiate new research, and the memo did not address concerns about the cancellation of grant review panels and advisory council meetings.
FABBS will continue to monitor developments at NIH and other federal agencies, and share information with our members.
