The Trump administration has instituted what it described as a temporary media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants.
Emails sent to EPA staff since President Donald Trump鈥檚 inauguration on Friday and reviewed by The Associated Press detailed specific prohibitions banning press releases, blog updates or posts to the agency鈥檚 social media accounts.
The Trump administration has also ordered what it called a temporary suspension of all new business activities at the department, including issuing task orders or work assignments to EPA contractors. The orders were expected to have a significant and immediate impact on EPA activities nationwide.
Similar orders barring external communications have been issued by the Trump administration at other federal agencies in recent days, including the Agriculture and Interior departments.
Staffers in EPA鈥檚 public affairs office are instructed to forward all inquiries from reporters to the Office of Administration and Resources Management.
鈥淚ncoming media requests will be carefully screened,鈥� one directive said. 鈥淥nly send out critical messages, as messages can be shared broadly and end up in the press.鈥�
A memo that went out to some members of the EPA staff and was obtained by CBS News outlined a list of bulleted restrictions.
鈥淣o press releases will be going out to external audiences,鈥� it said. 鈥淣o social media will be going out. A Digital Strategist will be coming on board to oversee social media. Existing, individually controlled, social media accounts may become more centrally controlled.鈥�
鈥淣o blog messages,鈥� it added.
A review of EPA websites and social media accounts, which typically include numerous new posts each day, showed no new activity since Friday.
The Office of Public Affairs at the EPA headquarters issued a statement saying, 鈥淭he EPA fully intends to continue to provide information to the public.鈥�
鈥淎 fresh look at public affairs and communications processes is common practice for any new Administration, and a short pause in activities allows for this assessment,鈥� the statement said.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday he had no information on the blackout. He said aides were looking into the circumstances.
Doug Ericksen, the communications director for Trump鈥檚 transition team at EPA, said he expects the communications ban to be lifted by the end of this week.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just trying to get a handle on everything and make sure what goes out reflects the priorities of the new administration,鈥� Ericksen said.
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