Federal Health Agencies Ordered To Restore Public Facing Webpages, Data

Several executive orders issued by President Trump during his first week in office remain tied up in U.S. courts. J. David Ake/Getty Images

• A federal judge ordered the HHS, CDC, and FDA to restore webpages and public-facing media that were scrubbed following President Trump’s executive order on “gender ideology.”
• The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by Doctors for America against the health agencies, which argued that removing the websites and data was a violation of federal law.
• Several executive orders issued by the new administration remain tied up in U.S. courts.

President Donald Trump’s barrage of executive orders during his first week in office led to multiple lawsuits targeting his administration’s actions.

The executive order on gender ideology stated a new federal policy that would only recognize “two sexes, male and female,” forcing major health organizations to scrub webpages containing gender-inclusive and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) language. 

After the president issued the order, federal health agencies were required to remove all websites and public-facing media that “promote gender ideology” by the end of January.

However, on Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to restore deleted data after Doctors for America filed a lawsuit against the health agencies. 

U.S. District Judge John Bates granted a temporary restraining order during the litigation process pursued by the nonprofit organization. The group filed the lawsuit on February 4. 

Doctors for America argued that its members relied on the deleted data to conduct research, provide medical care for patients, and inform how they respond to public health matters like youth risk behaviors and sexually transmitted infections like HIV. For instance, the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey had been deleted to comply with the new administration.

Deleting public health data violates federal law

Judge Bates agreed with Doctors for America that deleting public health data violated federal law and ordered the HHS, FDA, and CDC to restore deleted data and online resources to the agencies’ public-facing websites by midnight on Tuesday.

“It bears emphasizing who ultimately bears the harm of defendants’ actions: everyday Americans, and most acutely, underprivileged Americans, seeking healthcare,” Bates wrote. 

Bates argued that if doctors “cannot provide these individuals the care they need (and deserve) within the scheduled and often limited time frame, there is a chance that some individuals will not receive treatment, including for severe, life-threatening conditions. The public thus has a strong interest in avoiding these serious injuries to the public health,” the judge continued.

Health professionals rely on public health data

The executive order on gender ideology preceded an executive order issued on January 22 that halted public health communications from federal health agencies.

The pause in health communications, which was expected to end on February 1, left important public health information about the growing bird flu outbreak and rising respiratory virus cases in limbo. 

According to health experts like Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, the pause “generated havoc” in the scientific and medical communities. 

“The worry is that the CDC needs to update numbers on their website (i.e., new H5N1 cases) on a daily basis, so any delay can be a problem,” Gandhi told Healthline last month.

While some federal health communications resumed on February 6, such as the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), it’s unclear which communications streams remain dark.

Some executive orders tied up in courts

There is only so much power an executive order has in determining policy. For starters, it must be supported by Congress.

Several of President Trump’s executive orders are currently held up in U.S. courts.

Among them are a pause in federal funding, cuts to medical research grants, and challenges to birthright citizenship. 

Some judges appear to be ruling in favor of the challenges to the administration’s actions, but litigation is still ongoing.

Takeaway

A federal judge ordered federal health agencies to restore public-facing media, which was deleted following President Trump’s executive order on “gender ideology.”

The order came after Doctors for America filed a lawsuit against the HHS, CDC, and FDA. The nonprofit organization argued that deleting necessary and potentially lifesaving public health data is a violation of federal law.

Several executive orders issued by President Trump remain tied up in U.S. courts.