The Department of Agriculture on Tuesday denied instructing over 2,000 employees in its Agricultural Research Service to cease all public communications.
In a statement issued to Reuters, the USDA said that an email sent Monday to staff in the agency’s Agricultural Research Service was “released without Departmental direction.”
“This internal email was released without Departmental direction, and prior to Departmental guidance being issued,” USDA said in a statement. “ARS will be providing updated direction to its staff.”
The ARS chief of staff, Sharon D. Drumm, had instructed agency employees to tamp down their communications with the public.
“Starting immediately and until further notice, ARS will not release any public-facing documents,” she wrote Monday in an email obtained by TPM. “This includes, but is not limited to, news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content.”
An ARS spokesman told TPM it did not yet have a statement on the agency’s denial.
