On December 15, The Washington Post broke the story that top officials at the Center for Disease Control had issued a directive to budget directors to avoid using certain words in communications with other federal agencies and Congress. The seven words cited: diversity, entitlement, evidence-based, fetus, science-based, transgender, and vulnerable.
A spokesperson for the agency, Matt Lloyd, subsequently denied there was a ban, calling it a “mischaracterization.” Agency staffers indicate that it would be better to avoid those phrases, which might bring negative attention from budget-slashers higher up the chain.
Similarly, personnel at the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service have suggested that "climate change" and "greenhouse gas reduction" be avoided in favor of language less likely to trigger budget cuts from above.
Shortly after taking office, Trump’s White House removed website pages dedicated to climate change, and in the following months the words have disappeared from not only Environmental Protection Agency pages, but also from the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
All this wordplay is having an impact. Grants submitted to the federal government about “climate change” are down 40 percent this year.
What words will be in the cross-hairs next? I'm thinking “public participation” and “transparency” are good candidates.