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Dr. Rachel Levine is the first transgender person confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Biden’s Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine’s name was changed on a display that honors previous officeholders.
The Department of Health and Human Services, under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has removed the name “Rachel” from Adm. Rachel Levine’s official portrait, replacing it with her deadname and doing so beneath the mounted glass typically used for permanent institutional displays. Levine was the first transgender person confirmed by the U.S. Senate, something that took place under President Joe Biden.
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NPR, which first reported the development, described the setting in stark terms. On the seventh floor of the Humphrey Building in Washington, D.C., portraits of those who have led the Public Health Corps at HHS hang. Levine’s portrait was among them until the nameplate was altered.
Related: Dr. Rachel Levine Confirmed to HHS Post, Makes Transgender History (www.advocate.com)
The modification appears to have occurred during the recent federal shutdown, shortly after Assistant Secretary for Health Brian Cristine was confirmed by the Senate. Such an action during a shutdown raises immediate procedural concerns.
Shutdown rules restrict employees to duties tied to public safety or health emergencies. Altering a portrait, especially removing the frame’s glass and replacing it with a different nameplate, does not appear to fall into that category.
Adrian Shanker, who served as Levine’s deputy and directed the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health’s external affairs unit, said the move reflects a troubling misuse of institutional authority.
“During her entire time as assistant secretary for health and admiral of the United States Public Health Service, Admiral Levine was a dedicated public health servant,” Shanker told The Advocate. “She was working to end the HIV epidemic, respond to syphilis surges, improve mental health and nutrition, and really work for the health and well-being of all Americans. And it seems like what the folks that are there now are doing are small acts of pettiness and bigotry. It’s not only unfair to Admiral Levine, but it’s unfair to the American people that this is the level of seriousness of the current political appointees at HHS.”
HHS defended the change in a statement to NPR, claiming its “priority is to ensure that the information presented internally and externally by HHS reflects gold standard science,” and asserting that the department remains focused on “reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine” and advancing “biological reality.” The language echoed ongoing efforts across the administration to remove references to transgender people from federal materials.
Shanker said the administration’s bombast obscures what actually occurred. “They have a lot of rhetoric and campaign slogans they’re still using as they craft the policies they’re implementing,” he said. “But this isn’t about policy. This is a small act of pettiness and bigotry, and we should just call it what it is.”
He added that the portrait alteration fits into the broader pattern of the administration seeking to erase transgender people from public life. “It does seem like they’re obsessed with trans people and with removing not only their legal rights and their access to health care, but even people’s basic existence,” he said.
Levine, who is traveling and not conducting interviews, provided a brief statement to The Advocate through Shanker.
“It was my great honor to serve in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps,” she said. “My focus has been and continues to be on how we can advance health equity and public health for everyone. I’m not going to comment on this type of petty action.”
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