Salinas, Pettersen, Beyer, Tonko, Trahan Lead 29 Members Calling on Secretary Kennedy to Halt Dismantling of SAMHSA Amid Opioid and Mental Health Crises
Washington, DC – On Monday, April 7, U.S. Representatives Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Don Beyer (VA-08), Paul Tonko (NY-20), and Lori Trahan (MA-03) led 29 of their colleagues in calling on Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to immediately cease the proposed reorganization that would dissolve the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The Trump Administration aims to merge SAMHSA into a new entity, the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA), a move that Salinas and other lawmakers argue is both unlawful and detrimental to the nation’s efforts in combating the opioid epidemic and addressing mental health challenges. According to reports, HHS plans to lay off approximately 10,000 employees and close several agencies, including those overseeing addiction services and community health centers, consolidating their functions under the AHA.
“Functionally eliminating this centralized expertise within HHS is incompatible with both current statute and addressing the ongoing addiction and overdose crisis. Such intent and reorganization would require Congressional authorization,” wrote the Members.
They continued: “Over the last several years, SAMHSA executed a strategic plan that focused on five priority areas: preventing substance use and overdose; enhancing access to suicide prevention and mental health services; promoting resilience and emotional health for children, youth, and families; integrating behavioral and physical health; and strengthening the behavioral healthcare workforce. Under these priorities, SAMHSA was able to make significant strides in addressing the mental health and substance use disorder crises… We cannot afford to turn back the clock on the progress that SAMHSA has made, and we are deeply concerned that the absorption of SAMHSA under the AHA not only likely violates the law, but also threatens to undo this progress.”
As Co-Chair of the bipartisan Mental Health Caucus, Rep. Salinas is a leading voice in the fight to raise awareness, combat stigma, and expand access to mental and behavioral health care. She has also repeatedly sounded the alarm about the Trump Administration’s indiscriminate firings at SAMHSA and how that could negatively impact the availability of behavioral health resources and services for millions of Americans. In March, Reps. Salinas and Tonko sent a separate letter to Sec. Kennedy expressing their concern about these job cuts and calling for an end to the terminations at SAMHSA.
To read the full text of the letter, click here.
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