Overview
- HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon confirmed to NPR that the nameplate under Levine’s portrait at agency headquarters was replaced with a prior name during the federal shutdown.
- Nixon said the department seeks to present information that reflects “gold standard science” and to reverse policies enacted under Levine.
- Photographs shared on social media show the altered label on the portrait in HHS’s Humphrey Building in Washington, D.C.
- Levine declined extended comment, calling the move “petty,” while former deputy assistant secretary Adrian Shanker and a current staffer condemned it as bigotry and erasure.
- HHS has not identified who authorized the change or whether the original name will be restored, and the episode follows a year of administration actions limiting transgender recognition and care.