The Trump administration has laid off more than 100 employees at the nation’s main mental health agency, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, continuing a pattern of reductions to the agency.
SAMHSA Layoffs
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, laid off approximately 125 employees late Friday evening as the government shutdown continued. Employees were notified of a “Reduction in Force” shortly before 8 p.m. ET. Current and former employees told NPR that administration officials offered no rationale for who lost their jobs. One source described the atmosphere as one of “shock and not understanding why.” SAMHSA had employed around 900 people at the start of the administration but had already lost a third of that number to layoffs in the spring. With this latest round, employment is down to nearly half the original number.
SAMHSA’s Role and Budget
SAMHSA is responsible for overseeing the 988 suicide prevention hotline and distributes billions in grants for mental health and addiction services. It was created in 1992 through bipartisan legislation signed by President George H.W. Bush. In 2024, its budget was about $7.5 billion, most of which went directly to states for mental health and addiction programs. According to Rachel Winograd, a psychologist at the University of Missouri-Saint Louis, SAMHSA funds “are the backbone of behavioral health in this country.”
Administration Plans
President Trump had proposed slashing SAMHSA’s budget as part of his Big Beautiful Bill. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Congress he intended to fold SAMHSA’s duties into a new program called the Administration for a Healthy America.
Additional Agency Cuts
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also received staff reductions on Friday evening, including to offices responsible for disease surveillance, outbreak forecasting, chronic diseases, and immunization. However, some of these cuts were later reversed, with at least one employee’s termination revoked according to a letter from HHS’s Chief Human Capital Officer Tom Nagy.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/10/11/nx-s1-5571948/trump-mental-health-substance-abuse-cdc-layoffs-jobs