CARES ACT: Experts Identified Safeguards to Help Selected HHS Agencies Protect Against Potential Political Interference

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies—including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response—have been at the forefront of the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Like most federal agencies, HHS leadership consists of both political appointees and career officials who work together to oversee agency operations and implement the administration’s policy priorities. Political involvement or undue external influence becomes interference when it seeks to undermine an agency’s impartiality, nonpartisanship, and professional judgment, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.