Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley Jeffrey (Jeff) Alan MerkleyThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by The Air Line Pilots Association - Trump, Biden renew push for Latino support Sunday shows - Trump team defends coronavirus response Oregon senator says Trump's blame on 'forest management' for wildfires is 'just a big and devastating lie' MORE (D) blasted reports that the Trump administration supplied the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with a list of prohibited words, comparing it to George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984."

Merkley responded to a Washington Post report Saturday that said the Trump administration had banned the CDC from using the terms “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based" in official documents prepared for next year's budget.

"Banned words in Trump’s America apparently include 'evidence-based,' 'transgender,' and 'vulnerable.' Are you kidding me?!?!" Merkley tweeted, along with a picture depicting the book's cover.

Banned words in Trump’s America apparently include “evidence-based,” “transgender,” and “vulnerable.” Are you kidding me?!?! https://t.co/0aX36uBroo pic.twitter.com/vyBQ32YAZc — Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) December 16, 2017

The Post report also claimed that one official at the CDC said that other segments of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) were likely operating under the guidelines as well.

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“It was very much, ‘Are you serious? Are you kidding?’ ” the official told the newspaper, “In my experience, we’ve never had any pushback from an ideological standpoint.”

HHS called the Post's report of "banned words" a "mischaracterization" of the agency's budget discussions.

"The assertion that HHS has 'banned words' is a complete mischaracterization of discussions regarding the budget formulation process," HHS spokesman Matt Lloyd said Saturday.