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The Trump administration sent hundreds of termination letters for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) grants Tuesday night. But then it reversed the cancellations Wednesday night.
The details:
- While the exact scope of the funding cuts were unclear, as many as 2,800 grants were cancelled, with the total dollars affected as high as $2 billion, over a quarter of SAMHSA’s overall budget.
- The letters sent to grantee organizations said SAMHSA was cancelling the grants to better align its spending with agency priorities.
- The cuts affected organizations providing a broad array of mental health and addiction services, including comprehensive opioid treatment, addiction care for people experiencing homelessness, programs for pregnant and postpartum women in recovery, overdose prevention education for young people, etc.
The bigger picture: The cuts had primarily affected discretionary grant programs that often enjoy bipartisan support and that Trump has support in the past. That includes many programs included in the SUPPORT Reauthorization Act that Trump signed just 6 weeks ago.
BUT: The grants were restored late Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the cuts.
- The decision followed lobbying by lawmakers from both parties to restore the cuts and a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kennedy with signatures from 100 House members.
Read more: Trump administration sends letter wiping out addiction, mental health grants; Trump administration cuts up to $1.9 billion from mental health and addiction treatment programs; HHS terminates thousands of grants for substance use, mental health worth billions; HHS cuts $2 billion in mental health, addiction grants; White House reverses $2 billion cut to mental health, addiction grants; H.H.S. Reverses Decision to Cut $2 Billion for Mental Health and Addiction Services
Published
January 2026