Trump Administration Officials Accused of Deadnaming Former HHS Admiral Rachel Levine on Official Portrait

Admiral Rachel Levine, a pediatrician and public health leader who became the first openly transgender four-star admiral in any U. S. uniformed service, is again at the center of a national debate over transgender respect and inclusion in federal institutions. The controversy follows reports that officials in the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services under President Donald Trump’s second administration altered Levine’s official portrait to remove her current legal name and replace it with the name she used before her gender transition, a practice widely known and condemned as “deadnaming. ”

The portrait in question hangs in the Humphrey Building, HHS’s headquarters in Washington, D. C. , on a wall honoring individuals who have led the U. S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health. Levine’s image was added to that display after she was confirmed in 2021 as assistant secretary for health and sworn in as a four-star admiral under then-President Joe Biden’s first administration.

According to a report first highlighted by National Public Radio , during the recent federal shutdown the “current leadership” of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health ordered changes to Levine’s display, removing her current legal name and replacing it with a prior name from before her transition. NBC Right Now, summarizing the NPR reporting, likewise stated that Levine’s name “under her portrait was changed to her birth name. ” The change has not been publicly disputed by HHS officials.

An unnamed HHS staff member, speaking to NPR and cited by The Independent, characterized the move as “disrespectful” and an example of “the erasure of transgender individuals by this administration.” This staffer’s comments reflect growing concerns among some career personnel that the agency’s leadership is using internal symbolism, such as portrait captions and honor walls, to signal a rollback of earlier efforts to center health equity for transgender people and other marginalized groups.

In a statement provided to The Independent , Levine did not directly engage with the specifics of the portrait alteration but underscored her ongoing commitment to public health. “It was a great honor to serve in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, ” she said, adding that her focus “has been and continues to be on public health and health equity” and that she would not comment further on what she described as “this type of petty action.”

A spokesperson for HHS, Andrew Nixon, responded to questions from NPR in a written statement that was later quoted by NBC Right Now and The Independent. Nixon said the agency’s “priority is ensuring that the information presented internally and externally by HHS reflects gold standard science.” He also stated that the department “remain committed to reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine and ensuring that biological reality guides our approach to public health.” Nixon did not directly address why Levine’s prior name was used in place of her legal name on the portrait.

Levine, who served as Pennsylvania’s physician general from 2015 to 2017 and as the state’s secretary of health from 2017 to 2021, was nominated by President Joe Biden in early 2021 to serve as assistant secretary for health at HHS. She was confirmed by the U. S. Senate in March 2021, becoming the first openly transgender person to hold an office requiring Senate confirmation. In October 2021, she was sworn in as a four-star admiral in the U. S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, making her the first openly transgender four-star officer in any of the nation’s eight uniformed services.

Civil rights organizations celebrated Levine’s initial confirmation as a major milestone for transgender representation in federal leadership. Lambda Legal described the 2021 confirmation as “an historic moment, ” emphasizing Levine’s record as a physician and public servant and noting that she became the highest-ranking openly transgender official in the U. S. government. The 19th News, a nonprofit newsroom focused on gender and policy, highlighted her appointment as signaling a shift away from what LGBTQ+ advocates described as a “war against LGBTQ+ people” during Trump’s first term, particularly within HHS rulemaking on nondiscrimination protections.

Those earlier HHS rules under President Trump’s first administration included the 2020 rollback of Affordable Care Act protections that had previously interpreted sex discrimination to include discrimination against transgender people, as well as rules permitting some government-funded social service providers to turn away LGBTQ+ people. Advocates argued at the time that these changes would have “far-reaching consequences” for LGBTQ+ people seeking healthcare and social services.

The reported deadnaming incident in the current Trump administration’s HHS is being interpreted by many LGBTQ+ advocates as aligned with that broader policy trajectory, particularly because the official statement from HHS paired the portrait change with a pledge to reverse policies previously implemented under Levine’s leadership. While the specific policies that HHS now deems “harmful” were not detailed in the spokesperson’s statement, the rhetoric about “biological reality” mirrors language used in recent state and federal debates over transgender healthcare, sports participation, and recognition of gender identity in official documents.

LGBTQ+ advocacy outlets, including The Advocate , have reported on the portrait change as an example of deadnaming in a federal workplace context, underscoring how such acts can function both as a personal affront and as a symbolic message about whose identities are considered legitimate in government spaces. In coverage of the incident, The Advocate noted that Levine’s name was altered on a display specifically meant to honor previous officeholders, a move that transforms what is intended as institutional recognition into a site of controversy for transgender visibility.

Deadnaming—using a transgender person’s former name without consent—is widely described by transgender people and LGBTQ+ organizations as disrespectful and, in many cases, harmful. Major advocacy groups, including those such as the Human Rights Campaign , have long emphasized that using a transgender person’s correct name and pronouns is a basic element of dignity and respect, and many workplace inclusion policies are built around that principle. In contexts where power asymmetries are significant, such as a federal agency, advocates argue that deadnaming can reinforce stigmatization and signal institutional hostility to transgender participation.

The Independent reported that Levine resigned from her HHS role in January of this year, on the day Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term as president. This timing aligns with the broader shift in federal health policy direction under the new administration, which has focused on dismantling or revisiting a number of Biden-era regulatory initiatives on issues including gender-affirming care, reproductive health, and pandemic response.

From an LGBTQ+ perspective, the portrait incident is not viewed in isolation but as part of a larger climate in which transgender people’s names, pronouns, and identities have become flashpoints in political and cultural debates. Reporting by outlets such as The 19th News and The Advocate has documented how federal and state-level discussions over transgender healthcare, bathroom access, sports participation, and school policies often spill over into symbolic fights over language and representation. Advocates point out that these symbolic acts can both reflect and reinforce material policy changes that affect access to care and protections from discrimination.

For transgender people working in government or other public-facing roles, such actions can have personal as well as professional impacts. Levine told NPR, as quoted by The Independent, that the situation was “very challenging” but added that she is “a resilient person” and “fine, ” reiterating her ongoing commitment to public health and health equity. Her response underscores a theme that has run throughout coverage of her career: the tension between the historic nature of her achievements and the persistent hostility that many transgender people face in public life.

As of the latest reporting, HHS has not indicated any intention to restore Levine’s correct name to the portrait, nor has it provided further explanation beyond the brief statement citing “gold standard science” and “biological reality. ” The situation continues to draw scrutiny from journalists, advocacy organizations, and civil servants who see the treatment of Levine’s official image as a test of how the federal government will recognize and respect transgender people in its own ranks.