NIH clarifies restrictions on staff after Trump’s broad freeze sparked chaos
WASHINGTON — The National Institutes of Health’s myriad divisions can start new work on mission-critical research, and continue working on ongoing studies, but cannot publicly communicate about them until the new Trump administration lifts a communications freeze, the acting director said in a memo to leaders of the agency’s 27 institutes and centers on Monday.
The agency expects “additional guidance” this week on the communications freeze — which unleashed confusion about whether government workers could attend public meetings, speak with outside researchers, or dispatch public health information — from the Health and Human Services Department.
Acting Director Matthew Memoli wrote in the memo, obtained by STAT, that the pause is “to allow the new team to set up a process for review and prioritization.” While several of the new administration’s appointees are installed at HHS — and Biden staff have exited — President Trump’s nominee to lead HHS, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., goes before two Senate committees for his confirmation hearings this week. A hearing for his pick to lead NIH, Jay Bhattacharya, has not been scheduled.
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