Since losing in 2020 the various think tanks and groups that make up the right-wing have settled on a unified, frightening, vision of what the US government should look like equipped with (extremely dubious) legal rhetoric and reason to back it up. Most notable of these is Project 2025 by the Heritage Foundation[1] which is a keyhole glimpse into the chaos of this last week and in the years to come. The section relevant to this action is chapter 14 which describes each HHS division as maligned, woke, and in need of reform.

A less nuanced answer is the HHS/CDC made Trump look bad in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and so they’re now ordered to say nothing about anything ever again.

[1]: https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FUL...