🗓️ Week 6: Silenced Scientists and Banned Data
*By Cyberluzie | Trumped Out: A Diary of American Madness
While the administration reshaped justice and gender policy, it also dismantled the infrastructure of public health. Surveillance systems were shut down. Agency communications were silenced. Medical data was deleted.
By the 100-day mark, the United States had pulled out of the World Health Organisation, gutted the CDC and NIH, and paused key infectious disease research, just as new outbreaks began.
This is what happened, institution by institution.
🔹 TIMELINE OF POLICY MOVES
January 20
→ EO 14155: “Withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organisation”
Halted all funding and cooperation with the WHO
Ordered U.S. personnel recalled from Geneva and WHO field projects
January 21
→ HHS Communication Directive
Acting Secretary Dorothy Fink froze all public communication by the CDC, FDA, and NIH
Required prior review and approval by presidential appointees
January 31
→ CDC Website Deletions
Removed pages on LGBT health, youth health, HIV/STI prevention, and vaccine confidence
Data sets flagged for removal included racial health disparities and gun violence research
February 7
→ NIH Funding Policy Change
Capped indirect cost reimbursements at 15%
Lawsuits filed by 22 states and 40 research institutions
February 14
→ CDC Workforce Reduction
Laid off 1,300 employees, including all Epidemic Intelligence Service first-year fellows
Closed labs researching antimicrobial resistance and pandemic response
March 27
→ HHS Restructuring Plan
Consolidated 28 divisions into 15
Cut over 10,000 full-time positions
Projected to save $1.8 billion/year
April 2
→ Federal Health Budget Cuts Proposed
$33.3B cut from HHS (26.2% reduction)
$18B cut from NIH (40% reduction)
$3.6B cut from CDC (nearly 50%)
May 5
→ EO on Gain-of-Function Research
Banned all federal funding for gain-of-function studies in countries like China and Iran
Paused all U.S.-based research pending “new safety review framework”
🔹 OUTBREAKS UNDERMINED
Measles – Texas
683 confirmed cases across West Texas (largest since 1992)
Two fatalities reported, both unvaccinated children
Avian Influenza (H5N1)
Infections detected in dairy cows and poultry across seven states
Milk testing program cancelled under “regulatory simplification” directive
USDA and CDC issued conflicting advisories
🔹 INSTITUTIONAL IMPACT
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) suspended for the first time since 1960
HIV/AIDS and vaccine confidence units closed
Partnership with WHO and international surveillance systems severed
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Core grants delayed or cancelled
Indirect cost policy forced dozens of research labs to suspend projects
The NIH director resigned on April 10
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Reduced to 15 mega-divisions
Dissolved offices for women’s health, minority health, and community outreach
Communication controlled by political appointees
🔹 KEY TAKEAWAYS
Scientific communication was frozen within 24 hours of the inauguration.
Research was halted, defunded, or redirected.
Disease response was decentralised or politicised.
Public health crises emerged—and met a weaker, quieter system.