DOGE Excludes CDC from Social Media Accounts: "Everyone With Passwords Was let Go"

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have almost ceased sharing critical health updates with the general populace because of cuts introduced by the Trump administration.

Newsletters, health warnings, and social media updates have mostly fallen quiet since President Donald Trump resumed his term in office in January, yet issues around public health remain unaddressed. emergencies - including measles, salmonella, listeria, and hepatitis A and C outbreaks - have not ceased, and Current and ex-CDC employees informed NPR that disruptions in communication left Americans vulnerable to both infectious and persistent diseases.

One of the CDC staff members stated, 'We are practically incapable of managing communication.' He added, 'It feels as though our arms are bound.'

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Before Trump took office, the CDC largely handled its communication independently with minimal intervention from the Department of Health and Human Services. The department currently controls the CDC’s social media platforms but seldom shares content—though CDC staff members were unsettled by a March 7 posting that showcased HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s meeting with a family where their 6-year-old child had passed away due to measles.

The posting stated, “ Secretary Kennedy’s instruction is for the CDC to spearhead the country’s preparedness and reaction in healthcare.” It included a link to an announcement from Kennedy’s X profile concerning his trip to Gaines County, Texas. The statement explained that following his visit to Texas on Sunday to aid in controlling the measles epidemic, he held talks with state public health authorities. These discussions led to plans for deploying an additional CDC response unit to the region, thereby bolstering the state’s initiatives aimed at safeguarding residents from measles and its potential repercussions.

Three present CDC staffers informed NPR that the post was basically considered "propaganda." However, Kevin Griffis, who previously held the position of director of communications at the CDC until March, saw no issue with retweeting a cabinet secretary.

Griffis pointed out that what damages the credibility of future CDC communications is the shift from promoting vaccination and non-partisan public health messages to focusing more on amplifying statements made by the Secretary. This transformation has turned it into a politically charged platform.

Over 12 million individuals follow the CDC’s pages on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn. However, according to communications staff members at HHS, posts intended for these channels haven’t been approved rapidly enough to effectively disseminate crucial health updates. As a result, they’ve suggested reducing the number of posted content due to anticipated rejections.

"One employee stated, 'All tasks are being held up at the upper levels,' adding that this situation is extremely time-intensive and causes delays of weeks, if not months," he explained.

On April 1, thousands of federal health employees were let go by Kennedy as part of a government-wide initiative. reduction in effect," and these reductions affected almost all individuals at CDC whose main duty was to interact with the media or supply documents to the public; furthermore, each person on their digital media team was let go.

All the usual channels through which we typically interact with the American public have either been removed or significantly diminished," stated Griffis, who was one of those affected.

Removing all the web developers, graphic designers, and social media staff from the agency resulted in a new issue, as per three sources, since the CDC found itself locked out of its social media accounts unexpectedly.

As stated by a CDC employee, 'The passwords for those accounts were stored in a password-protected Word document,' which ‘was not accessible to anyone remaining since everyone who had access to open that file got terminated.'

Nevertheless, Andrew Nixon, the head of communications at HHS, maintained that CDC officials could use their X account, and as evidence, two additional tweets from Kennedy’s account have been republished since the post mentioning his trip to Texas. This contrasts with the 90 updates posted on the CDC's primary X account in April 2024.

"CDC can view their X account – it’s as straightforward as that,” Nixon stated. “As an agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC aids Secretary Kennedy in realizing his ambition to safeguard public health and Restore American Wellbeing.”

"It's unfortunate to see career officials spreading false rumors," Nixon added.