rewrite this title Senate Democrats call for answers on health communications freeze and funding delays

In a letter sent Wednesday night to Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Dorothy Fink, a group of 34 Democratic senators called for the federal health agency to end its freeze on “external communications and funding.”

“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 senators wrote. “The abrupt order has already disrupted patient care, public health oversight, halted medical research funding, and obstructed critical regulatory processes.”

Senators Amy Klobuchar, D-MN, and Bernie Sanders, I-VT, who is a ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, led the group writing the letter. It was also signed by 32 other senate Democrats.

HHS issued a memo pausing almost all external communication on Jan. 21. It directed agency staff to refrain from most communications, such as issuing documents, guidance or notices, until such documents can be approved by “a presidential appointee.”

The memo said the pause was in place until Feb. 1. But that deadline has passed, the senators write, and “it remains unclear when these restrictions will be lifted.”

The letter goes on to note: “While limited exceptions exist for critical health, safety, or national security concerns, the freeze has already severely impeded essential public health and biomedical research functions.”

For example, the CDC failed to release its weekly publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, or MMWR, the weeks of Jan. 22 and Jan 29, marking the first time in decades the agency has not published the highly regarded mainstay of public health communication. This week’s MMWR did go out on Thursday.

When NPR asked HHS if the communications pause has been lifted, Andrew Nixon, director of communications, said via email that “there are several types of external communications that are no longer subject to the pause.”

“HHS has approved numerous communications related to critical health and safety needs and will continue to do so,” he added.

Yet as NPR reported, some pages and data sets scientists rely on are still not available and many scientists are concerned about what may still be missing or altered. At the National Institutes of Health, decisions on new grants have been delayed, new research is stalled and there’s a pause in recruiting new patients for any clinical studies at the agency.

The senators demand “a full accounting” by Feb. 10 of all communications that were postponed or cancelled including scientific reports and updates, public health advisories, grant decisions and more.

“The American people depend on HHS agencies to provide accurate, real-time information about disease outbreaks, medical research, and regulatory decisions,” they wrote.

The senators’ letter also references funding issues that may be linked to the federal funding freeze announced in a Jan. 27 memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget which froze most federal grants, loans and payments. The courts later blocked the order and it was since rescinded.

But the administration said that its efforts to review and rein in federal spending continue.

Some health clinics that rely on federal funds to provide care have not been able to get their funding in recent days, as PBS reported.

Another group of Democratic senators, led by senators Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner, D-VA sent a separate letter to HHS Thursday raising concerns about this.

“Many grantees that rely on federal funding are still experiencing confusion and uncertainty, and have received little to no guidance from the Trump Administration about their funding,” the letter states.

It was signed by Kaine, Warner and 20 of their Democratic colleagues in the Senate.

“Despite a judge’s order blocking the funding freeze, we are troubled by reports that health centers are unable to access funding duly appropriated by Congress,” they wrote. “Health centers are receiving little communication regarding these cancellations and changes, and the communication they have received from HRSA has been unclear, directing actions that may conflict with current court orders.”