The Trump administration have stated that they are forbidding CDC officials from using a list of provided words or phrases in any official documents being prepared for the upcoming budget.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told that they are not allowed to utter (again official documents) The forbidden words are: “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”
The Trump admin even provided a list of alternatives should the need arise depending on the keyword. Instead of “evidence-based” and “science-based” they’ve recommended that the “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes,” the person said. In other cases, no replacement words were
According to the Chicago Tribune,
The question of how to address such issues as sexual orientation, gender identity and abortion rights – all of which received significant visibility under the Obama administration – has surfaced repeatedly in federal agencies since President Donald Trump took office. Several key departments – including Health and Human Services, which oversees CDC, as well as Justice, Education and Housing and Urban Development – have changed some federal policies and how they collect government information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.
The meeting between the two parties was led by Alison Kelly. Kelly is a senior leader at the CDC’s Office of Finacial Services though she did not say why the words are seemingly being banned and told her group that she was only relaying the information.
“In my experience, we’ve never had any pushback from an ideological standpoint,” the analyst said.
According to the Washington Post, The ban is related to the budget and supporting materials that are to be given to the CDC’s partners and to Congress, the analyst said. The president’s budget for 2019 is expected to be released in early February. The budget blueprint is generally shaped to reflect an administration’s priorities.
The CDC has a budget of about $7 billion and more than 12,000 employees working across the nation and around the globe on everything from food and water safety, to heart disease and cancer, to infectious disease outbreak prevention. Much of the CDC’s work has strong bipartisan support.
I can see the need for this, though. I mean… give it another few years and things may go back to normal. What do you think about Trump’s latest move?