Trump Administration Changes Name on Admiral Rachel Levine's Official Portrait

The Department of Health and Human Services has altered the official portrait of Admiral Rachel Levine, replacing her legal name with her previous name in what critics are calling an unprecedented act of institutional erasure.

The change was made during the recent federal shutdown to the portrait that hangs in a seventh-floor hallway of the Humphrey Building in Washington, D.C., alongside photographs of other officials who have led the Public Health Corps. Levine's is the only portrait of a transgender person in the gallery.

Adrian Shanker, who served as deputy assistant secretary for health policy under Levine and now acts as her spokesperson, confirmed the nameplate was swapped out to display her previous name. "During the federal shutdown, the 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 said, calling it "an act of bigotry."

Levine made history in 2021 when she became the first openly transgender person to win Senate confirmation for a federal position and the first openly transgender four-star officer in any U.S. uniformed service. She served as President Biden's assistant secretary for health, leading the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and working on pandemic response, HIV/AIDS policy, and opioid initiatives.

When asked about the alteration, Levine told NPR it was "an honor to serve the American people as the assistant secretary for health" and she wouldn't "comment on this type of petty action."

An HHS spokesperson defended the change, saying the department's priority is "ensuring that the information presented internally and externally by HHS reflects gold standard science" and committing to "reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine and ensuring that biological reality guides our approach to public health."

The portrait modification raises procedural questions about work conducted during a government shutdown, when federal employees are typically restricted to duties related to public safety or health emergencies. Changing a portrait nameplate would not appear to fall under those categories.

Shanker called the action unprecedented, noting that official portraits traditionally remain unchanged as historical records of service regardless of subsequent political shifts. An anonymous HHS staffer described the change as "disrespectful" and emblematic of "the erasure of transgender individuals by this administration."

The portrait alteration follows a series of executive orders from President Trump targeting transgender Americans, including banning transgender people from military service, barring trans women from women's sports, and declaring federal policy would only recognize two biological sexes.

This story was first reported by NPR.