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May 15, 2025

SAMHSA Cuts Will Kill – Doctors for America Calls for Reinstating Funding for Mental Health and Addiction Resources


WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides critical support for Americans suffering from mental health conditions. This agency leads efforts to advance behavioral health, prevent substance misuse, and increase care for mental health and substance use disorders. Due to DOGE cuts, $1 billion in funding is being rescinded from SAMHSA. This cut in funding will reduce the SAMHSA workforce by 50%. These reductions in vital resources will lead to decreased access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment programs.

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Abdullah Shihipar, Brandon Marshall / March 27, 2025

Gutting the Government Could Reignite the Drug Overdose Epidemic

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Despite the secretary’s acknowledgment of the ongoing crisis, this progress is now imperiled by recent cuts that have been made to the workforce of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, by DOGE. It may be one of the smallest agencies in the federal government, but on the public health front, it’s been delivering bang for the buck, at least until now. In the recent round of cuts, SAMHSA reportedly lost more than 10 percent of its staff—100 probationary staffers out of a workforce of more than 600.

These cuts may seem insignificant, but SAMHSA plays an outsize role in the federal government’s response to the overdose crisis. The agency awards millions of dollars in grants to behavioral health care clinics, overdose prevention and outreach programs, substance use disorder treatment and recovery services, and tribal health care services, to name a few. These programs go beyond just monetary support, as SAMHSA provides training and technical assistance to these organizations as well.

For instance, its Center for Addiction and Recovery Support helps to train peer recovery support specialists (people who are in recovery who can assist others with substance use disorder). According to agency estimates, this agency trained around 2,500 people in 2024. Perhaps most importantly, SAMHSA ensures that opioid treatment providers, or OTPs, stay in compliance with federal regulations; a disruption to that workforce could have detrimental impacts on the ability of OTPs to operate. Finally, SAMHSA also provides services directly to individuals—namely, the 988 National Suicide and Crisis Line; employees who helped operate this line were reportedly laid off.

According to Representative Paul Tonko, these layoffs cut deep, cutting all staff in SAMHSA’s regions Four and Five (which encompass much of the Midwest, Appalachia, and the South). Representative Tonko cited an absence of staff on the website; since his letter, some of the staff profiles have returned to the site. Nonetheless, Tonko and others have also alarmingly heard word of further cuts (50 to 70 percent) to the agency.

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