HHS Whiplash: SAMHSA Pulls, Then Rescinds Cuts to Nearly $2B in Mental Health and Addiction Grants After Backlash and Errant Emails
Over a roughly 24‑hour span, HHS’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration abruptly terminated about 2,000 grants—nearly $2 billion, roughly one‑quarter of SAMHSA’s budget—via letters signed by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher Carroll invoking a regulation that awards no longer “effectuate” program goals; many grantees reported little notice (some even received a later 2 a.m. termination email acknowledged as an error), triggering layoffs, canceled trainings and local losses such as Las Vegas’s PACT Coalition losing $560,000 and Boston’s Baker Center losing $1 million. After intense bipartisan and provider backlash and high‑level meetings inside the administration, HHS reversed the cuts and is notifying recipients that full funding will be restored, but officials have not explained who ordered the initial cancellations or the reversal, leaving advocates and lawmakers alarmed by the chaos.
📌 Key Facts
- About 2,000 SAMHSA grants were canceled Tuesday night, totaling nearly $2 billion — roughly one‑quarter of SAMHSA’s overall budget.
- Termination letters signed by SAMHSA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher Carroll invoked a regulation allowing awards to be ended when they 'no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities,' saying the grants no longer 'aligned' with the Trump administration’s public‑health agenda.
- SAMHSA sent a second 2 a.m. termination email later acknowledged as an error; HHS and SAMHSA were publicly silent after the notices, and reporters have not been able to determine who ordered the initial cuts or who ordered the reversal.
- Providers reported immediate operational fallout — including layoffs and canceled trainings within 24–36 hours — with named local impacts such as Las Vegas‑based PACT Coalition losing $560,000 across three grants and Boston’s Baker Center for Children and Families losing $1 million across two grants (one from the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative), jeopardizing care for about 600 families.
- The decision was reversed and the funds will be fully restored; more than 2,000 organizations are being notified that their funding is reinstated after intense, same‑day bipartisan backlash and high‑level meetings inside the administration.
- Advocates and medical groups — including NAMI and the American Medical Association — along with local leaders like Haymarket Center CEO Dan Lustig, described the episode as a 'day of panic' that left organizations deeply alarmed, warning of treatment disruptions and even potential deaths; Rep. Rosa DeLauro called the episode 'haphazard and chaotic,' saying HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 'bowed to public pressure.'
- The episode came against a broader backdrop of months of Trump‑administration rhetoric criticizing public‑health programs as ineffective; advocates say the pattern of sudden funding moves leaves programs 'rudderless' and makes planning expansions or meeting demand impossible.
📊 Relevant Data
As of Summer 2023, only 16% of Black adults, 11% of Hispanic adults, and 13% of Asian adults had heard a lot or some about the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline, compared to 22% of White adults.
In 2023, the age-adjusted drug overdose death rate was highest for non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native people at 65.0 per 100,000 population, compared to 49.5 for non-Hispanic Black people, 39.8 for non-Hispanic White people, 21.0 for Hispanic people, and 5.1 for non-Hispanic Asian people; American Indian or Alaska Native people comprise about 1.3% of the U.S. population.
Reduce drug overdose deaths — infographic — Healthy People 2030
Racial-ethnic disparities in substance abuse treatment utilization are influenced by factors such as higher rates of criminal history and Medicaid enrollment among Black and Latino individuals, along with lower income levels, which affect treatment engagement and completion rates.
Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Substance Abuse Treatment: The Role of Criminal History and Socioeconomic Status — Psychiatric Services
In 2024, the prevalence of any mental illness among U.S. adults was 23.40%, with similar or lower rates among most racial/ethnic minority groups compared to White adults, but minority groups face greater consequences due to barriers in accessing high-quality care.
The State of Mental Health in America 2025 — Mental Health America
Funding cuts and instability in behavioral health services contribute to reduced service capacity, increased uncertainty for providers, and potentially higher incarceration rates for individuals with mental health issues due to diminished access to community-based treatment.
Mental Health Spending: Funding Cuts & Telepsychiatry Solutions — FAS Psych
📰 Source Timeline (6)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- On top of the initial termination and later reversal, SAMHSA sent some grantees a second 2 a.m. termination email that was later acknowledged as an error, deepening confusion.
- Providers describe taking immediate steps in the 24–36 hours after the initial cut — including layoffs and canceled trainings — before any restoration notice arrived.
- Front‑line leaders like BestSelf Behavioral Health’s CEO in Buffalo and the head of Addiction Professionals of North Carolina say the episode is part of a broader pattern of sudden Trump‑era funding moves that make it impossible to plan expansions or meet demand.
- NPR confirms that all roughly 2,000 affected organizations are being notified that full funding will be restored, citing an unnamed administration official.
- Provides on-the-ground detail from Haymarket Center in Chicago, the largest nonprofit addiction program there, including CEO Dan Lustig’s warning that loss of treatment means 'people are going to die.'
- Documents the complete public silence from HHS and SAMHSA after the termination letters went out, and the lack of explanation for who ordered the cuts or the reversal.
- Adds explicit criticism from Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who says Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 'bowed to public pressure' and calls the episode 'haphazard and chaotic.'
- Quotes the American Medical Association’s statement saying it was 'deeply concerned' and warning that sudden funding disruptions risk leaving patients without urgently needed treatment.
- Details that termination letters said the grants no longer 'aligned' with the Trump administration’s public-health agenda, a key window into the pretext used for the cuts.
- NPR confirms, via a Trump administration official, that the sweeping cuts to more than $2 billion in mental‑health and addiction funding are being reversed, in line with earlier reporting but emphasizing there is still no clear explanation for either the cancellation or the restoration.
- The piece highlights the human‑level fallout from the 24‑hour whiplash, quoting National Alliance on Mental Illness representative Hannah Wesolowski on staff believing they would lose jobs and very sick patients would lose care.
- NPR adds that the reversal comes against a backdrop of months of Trump‑administration rhetoric that many public‑health programs are ineffective and need to be overhauled, which advocates say leaves them feeling 'rudderless.'
- An HHS official with direct knowledge told NPR the decision to terminate more than $2 billion in mental health and addiction grants has been reversed and the funds will be restored.
- More than 2,000 organizations and grant recipients are being notified as quickly as possible that their funding is being reinstated.
- The reversal followed intense same‑day backlash from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress and from providers nationwide, with high‑level meetings inside the Trump administration on Wednesday.
- Advocates like Hannah Wesolowski of NAMI describe the last 48 hours as a “day of panic” but say the episode has left organizations “deeply alarmed” even as they welcome the reversal.
- NPR reports it has not yet been able to determine who inside HHS or the administration made the initial cut decision or who ultimately ordered the reversal.
- Confirms about 2,000 grants were canceled Tuesday night, totaling nearly $2 billion—framed as roughly one‑quarter of SAMHSA’s overall budget.
- Identifies SAMHSA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher Carroll as the official whose signed letters invoked a regulation allowing termination of awards that 'no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.'
- Reports that staff within SAMHSA were not widely notified of the cuts, according to two internal sources, and that organizations have already begun laying off staff and canceling trainings.
- Names specific affected providers and local impacts, including the Las Vegas‑based PACT Coalition losing $560,000 across three grants and Boston’s Baker Center for Children and Families losing $1 million across two grants, jeopardizing care for about 600 families.
- Details that one of the canceled Baker Center grants came through the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, a more than 20‑year‑old federal program supporting specialized care for children who have experienced severe trauma.