Houston Park and John Knox, trained firefighters, are also in line for roles helping oversee the nation’s emergency preparedness and response.

Federal health officials have been instructed to temporarily stop any “external communications” to the public, according to two officials with knowledge of the situation.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed federal health agencies to pause all external communications, such as health advisories, weekly scientific reports, updates to websites and social media posts,