President Donald Trump’s administration is allegedly shutting down its own social media accounts in an effort to combat what they see as politicization at some government agencies.
The Trump administration has barred the Environmental Protection Agency from using its social media accounts and from issuing press releases, an unnamed staffer for the agency told Fox News.
Fox reported that staffers in the EPA’s public affairs office were instructed to send all media inquiries to the Office of Administration and Resources Management. The blackout follows a temporary suspension of new contracts at the agency by the Trump administration.
"Not the most inspiring time at EPA right now but we're fighters,” the EPA staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Fox.
“Yes to freeze on new contracts and grants and no new funding on existing ones. There will supposedly be exceptions moving forward but unclear at this point,” Fox’s source added.
A memo obtained by CBS News that was reportedly circulated among some EPA staff outlined the restrictions:
CBS adds that similar instructions were given to staffers at the Agriculture and Interior departments.
Doug Ericksen, communications director for Trump's transition team at EPA, told the Associated Press that he anticipates that the matter will be resolved by the end of the week.
"We're just trying to get a handle on everything and make sure what goes out reflects the priorities of the new administration," Ericksen said.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer denied Wednesday that the directive came from the White House. He said that the directives came from within the respective agencies.
Spicer: EPA social media directive did not come from White House https://t.co/zpKLCKMSbl
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 25, 2017
TheBlaze previously reported that a National Park Twitter account defied the instructions to tweet about climate change.