Senators issue letter to Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services over communications freeze

WASHINGTON D.C. – On Friday, a group of over 30 sitting U.S. Senators penned a letter to Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Dorothy Fink detailing the impact of the Trump Administration's communications freeze on the federal health agency.

According to a press release from Senator Alex Padilla's Office Friday, the freeze disrupted clinical trials, prevented federal health agencies from working with patient groups and scientific advisory committees, and delayed the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report-the definitive publicly-accessible source for health updates nationwide-for the first time in 60 years.

"We write to express our deep concern over the Administration’s recent decision to freeze external communications and suspend federal health funding at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The abrupt order has already disrupted patient care, public health oversight, halted medical research funding, and obstructed critical regulatory processes," read Friday's letter. "This political interference in public health agencies is unprecedented and unacceptable. While it is not unusual for a new administration to conduct brief reviews of existing programs, no past transition has implemented a blanket freeze of this magnitude."

On Jan. 21, 2025, all 13 divisions within the Department of Health and Human Services-which includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institute of Health (NIH)-were instructed in a memo from Acting Secretary Fink to halt all public communications through Feb. 1 until they were reviewed by a Presidential Appointee.

Acting Secretary Fink's memo did carve out exceptions to the freeze for information, "[R]equired by statute or litigation; affect critical health, safety, environmental, financial, or national security functions of the Department; or for some other reason".

Friday's letter from Democratic Senators pointed out, "The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)...often includes clinical recommendations for doctors, such as guidance on how to treat diseases that are currently circulating in the United States" and noted the ongoing H5N1 bird flu outbreak.

Your News Channel used the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report to confirm details about two cases of H5N1 in domestic cats in Santa Barbara County and track confirmed positive test results nationwide for our broadcast and digital coverage.

No Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports reports have been received by Your News Channel since Dec 18, 2024.

For the latest information on the spread of H5N1, you can check out the CDC's H5 Bird Flu information page or the California Department of Public Health's Bird Flu Situation webpage.

On Feb. 4, 2025, the Senate Finance Committee advanced Robert F. Kennedy's nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services on a party-line vote and his appointment is now pending a vote on the Senate floor.

California's Senators Padilla and Schiff were joined by the following Senators on Friday's letter: Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-M.N. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (D-V.T.) Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

According to Senator Padilla's Office's press release Friday, the Trump Administration's own Feb. 1 deadline to end the communications freeze has already passed and, "it remains unclear when these restrictions will be lifted."