Halts to external communications, publishing reports and reviewing and approving research a ‘dramatic shift’. US health agency employees are now banned from nearly all travel and certain agencies and programs have been ordered to stop issuing new contracts and grants until further notice.
The limits on travel and spending, announced internally on Wednesday, add to previous indefinite halts on external communications, including publishing new reports or even posting to social media, and on reviewing and approving new medical research, a nearly $50bn industry in the US.
Employees of the 13 agencies overseen by US Health and Human Services (HHS) may only travel to return from assignments or to escape life-threatening situations. That means regular meetings with state and local health officials, training sessions and grant reviews are now on hold.
All federal agencies have been ordered to stop funding for foreign projects, including global health, and to stop work immediately on any programs involving the World Health Organization. Some agencies have also been ordered to stop cutting checks for projects and programs.
The mood at health agencies has been “nothing short of morose and somber”, said one CDC employee who requested anonymity because of the ban on communications. Most staff members have experienced administration transitions under Democratic and Republican presidents before, but this transition has signaled “a dramatic shift” in the second Trump administration’s approach to federal agencies, especially those working on health and science, the employee said.
