A official portrait of Adm. Rachel L. Levine in a hallway of the Humphrey Building at the Department of Health and Human Services was altered to display her previous name, HHS confirmed to NPR. Levine, who served as President Biden’s assistant secretary for health and led the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, was the first openly transgender person confirmed by the Senate to that role. Her portrait has hung among past leaders of the Public Health Corps since shortly after her 2021 confirmation.
A digital photo obtained by NPR shows the printed name inside the frame under the glass changed to a prior name. Adrian Shanker, Levine’s spokesperson and a former deputy assistant secretary for health policy in the Biden administration, said the modification occurred “during the federal shutdown” when current leadership of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health “changed Admiral Levine’s photo to remove her current legal name and use a prior name.” Shanker called the action “an act of bigotry against her.”
Levine told NPR she was honored to serve as assistant secretary for health and declined to comment further on what she described as a petty action.
HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon provided a statement saying the department’s priority is “ensuring that the information presented internally and externally by HHS reflects gold standard science.” He added that the department is “committed to reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine and ensuring that biological reality guides our approach to public health.” The current assistant secretary for health is Adm. Brian Christine, a urologist from Alabama confirmed by the Senate in October.
An HHS staff member who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution called the name change “disrespectful” and said it exemplifies “the erasure of transgender individuals by this administration.”
Levine’s image has been a focal point in political attacks: during the 2024 campaign, former President Trump and other Republican groups spent millions on anti-transgender ads, some using Levine’s photograph. Since taking office, the administration has pursued policies affecting transgender and intersex people across multiple federal agencies, including changes at the Pentagon that led to the separation of transgender service members and reversed State Department passport policies.
Shanker described altering Levine’s portrait as unprecedented and urged current HHS leaders to focus on pressing public health issues rather than targeting her. He noted Levine’s public health work addressing COVID-19, syphilis, HIV/AIDS and the opioid crisis.