The War On News

A record of government actions against journalism and fact-based reporting, from the first press laws to today

Incident

Political appointees alter CDC coronavirus guidance before public release

United StatesRSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180

Engraving of an empty press briefing room with a lectern and rows of chairs

Reporting in 2020 found that political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services rewrote or edited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's public coronavirus guidance and its weekly scientific bulletin before release, bypassing the agency's normal scientific review.1234

What happened

Reporting published in September 2020 found that Michael Caputo, an HHS spokesperson, and an adviser he brought in, Paul Alexander, sought to change or delay CDC scientific communications, including the agency's weekly Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, so that public messaging would not conflict with statements President Trump had made about the pandemic. In one instance, HHS staff rewrote CDC coronavirus testing guidance and published it on the CDC's own website without the agency's normal scientific review, a document CDC officials later said did not reflect the views of many scientists inside the agency. Assistant Secretary Brendan Giroir said he coordinated input from task-force scientists but told reporters he did not know why some edits bypassed the standard review process. The episode became the subject of a congressional oversight investigation into political interference at the CDC during the pandemic.1234

What reason was given

Stated justification

Caputo told colleagues his goal was to "execute the president's agenda and to knock down any messaging, any communications that were seen as conflicting with what President Trump was saying about coronavirus."1

What changed for reporting

Reporters covering the pandemic received CDC guidance and public statements that outside scientists said had been shaped by political appointees rather than by the agency's own scientific review, undercutting the reliability of official public health communications reporters relied on.23

Timeline

2020

12 September 2020
Political appointees alter CDC coronavirus guidance before public release

Who acted

NameRole in this incidentOffice at the time
Donald TrumpotherPresident of the United States
Michael CaputoorderedHHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, 2020
U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesenforcedFederal health department overseeing the CDC

Sources

  1. Political Meddling In The Fight Against COVID-19 archived copyNPR, 2020-09-23, reporting. Source record
  2. Controversial CDC guidelines were written by HHS officials, not scientists: reportThe Hill, 2020-09-12, reporting. Source record

Claims and evidence

Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.

  1. Caputo said his role was to prevent CDC communications from conflicting with the president's own statements about the pandemic.execute the president's agenda and to knock down any messaging, any communications that were seen as conflicting with what President Trump was saying about coronavirus.Political Meddling In The Fight Against COVID-19 archived copy, NPR, 2020-09-23.Claim 335, checked 2026-09-22.
  2. HHS staff rewrote a CDC guidance document and posted it without the CDC's usual scientific review.HHS staff rewrote the document and published it on the CDC's website without going through the traditional review process.Controversial CDC guidelines were written by HHS officials, not scientists: report, The Hill, 2020-09-12.Claim 336, checked 2026-09-22.
  3. The rewritten guidance came from HHS and the White House task force rather than from CDC's own scientists.That was a doc that came from the top down, from the HHS and the task force.Controversial CDC guidelines were written by HHS officials, not scientists: report, The Hill, 2020-09-12.Claim 337, checked 2026-09-22.
  4. Assistant Secretary Brendan Giroir said he coordinated scientific input but could not explain why the normal review process was skipped.coordinated editing and input from the scientific and medical members of the task forceControversial CDC guidelines were written by HHS officials, not scientists: report, The Hill, 2020-09-12.Claim 338, checked 2026-09-22.