Wyden, Padilla, Colleagues Press Trump Administration Over Chaotic Decisions on Substance Abuse, Mental Health Services

Wyden, Padilla, Colleagues Press Trump Administration Over Chaotic Decisions on Substance Abuse, Mental Health Services

Letter to HHS seeks answers over abrupt termination and reinstatement of Congressionally-appropriated funds for SAMHSA services

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., today led 18 Democratic Senate colleagues in pressing the Trump administration for answers over its recent plan to cut nearly $2 billion in federal funding for critical substance abuse and mental health services, only to reverse course on its decision one day later, causing mass chaos and confusion for patients and providers nationwide.

"Cancelling these grants would have jeopardized critical work being done on the frontlines of the opioid crisis, which directly contradicts this administration's own stated goals to tackle the opioid crisis," the senators wrote in their letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. "Although HHS has since reversed course, much damage has already been done. Some staff were laid off or put on notice, services were paused, and trust between patients in need of these services and their providers has been permanently undermined."

Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) abruptly announced its plan to cancel over 2,000 active grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Funding for many of these programs was just recently reauthorized by Congress on a bipartisan basis under the SUPPORT Act.

Less than a day later, it was reported that HHS had reversed course on its plan to cancel the grants, retaining current funding levels as appropriated by Congress. Despite this, the immediate cancellation of the grants followed by the unexpected reinstatement caused mass confusion and chaos. Providers were left questioning if they had funding to continue their services, while patients were left unsure if they would continue to have access to the mental health and addiction treatment services they rely on.

The proposed grant cancellations came just months after the administration purged critical staff working on the frontlines of America's opioid crisis under SAMHSA. Wyden and Padilla slammed that decision at the time, which left SAMHSA's staff at less than 50 percent capacity.

Furthermore, the senators noted in their letter that the abrupt issuance of these grant termination notices without warning, explanation, or apparent statutory basis, as was reported, would be a violation of federal grant law.

In addition to Wyden and Padilla, the letter to HHS was signed by Senators Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Gary Peters, D-Mich., Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz, Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

The text of the letter is here.

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