Overview
- The department acknowledged the swap on X on Dec. 9, posting “Can confirm!” in response to reports.
- Levine and spokesperson Adrian Shanker criticized the move as petty and an act of bigotry.
- HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said the agency aims to reverse Levine-era policies and ensure “biological reality” guides public health.
- Shanker said the alteration occurred during the recent federal government shutdown.
- NPR first publicized the change on Dec. 5 with a photograph from an anonymous HHS employee, and no other portraits have been reported altered.