Signal for the 988 Lifeline psychological well being emergency hotline, Walnut Creek, California, December 20, 2024. The Trump administration has laid off greater than 100 staff on the company chargeable for overseeing the quantity.
Smith Assortment/Gado by way of Getty Photographs
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Smith Assortment/Gado by way of Getty Photographs
The Trump administration has laid off greater than 100 staff on the nation’s essential psychological well being company, NPR has realized.
Present and former staff on the Substance Abuse and Psychological Well being Providers Company (SAMHSA) advised NPR in regards to the layoffs, which have been a part of a government-wide discount in drive. The sources, who weren’t approved to talk publicly in regards to the company, stated the layoffs got here late Friday, because the nation’s authorities shutdown dragged on.
Staff have been notified of a “Discount in Pressure” shortly earlier than 8 p.m. ET on Friday, in keeping with a supply inside the company who was not approved to debate the layoffs publicly. In response to the supply, administration officers provided no rationale for who misplaced their jobs:
“I feel the final feeling right now is shock — and never understanding why?” the supply advised NPR.
That supply was conscious of dozens of firings. Two former staff advised NPR that the overall variety of staff at SAMHSA who misplaced their jobs was round 125, although that quantity was a tough estimate. SAMHSA had employed round 900 individuals.
The Division of Well being and Human Providers didn’t instantly reply to NPR’s request for remark.
SAMHSA is chargeable for overseeing the brand new 988 suicide prevention hotline. It additionally provides out billions in grants for psychological well being and dependancy companies. It was created in 1992 by means of bipartisan laws signed by then-President George H.W. Bush. In 2024 its finances was about $7.5 billion, most of which went on to states for packages aimed toward psychological well being points and dependancy.
SAMHSA funds “are the spine of behavioral well being on this nation,” Rachel Winograd, a psychologist on the College of Missouri-Saint Louis, advised NPR earlier this yr. “If these grants have been to go away, we might be screwed.”
Regardless of having what many see as a necessary function in defending the nation’s psychological well being, SAMHSA has not been seen favorably by the present administration. President Trump had proposed slashing its finances as a part of his Large Stunning Invoice. And earlier this yr, Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advised Congress that he meant to fold its duties into a brand new program he calls the Administration for a Wholesome America.
CDC in confusion as some cuts reversed
An indication marks the doorway to the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention headquarters Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Atlanta. A number of key elements of the company are dropping staff.
Brynn Anderson/AP
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Brynn Anderson/AP
SAMHSA was not the one company to see employees laid off on Friday night. The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention additionally seems to have suffered cuts to staffing, in keeping with two staff who say they have been affected by the firings. Each staff weren’t approved to talk to the press whereas the layoffs are being finalized.
However the cuts at CDC gave the impression to be in flux late Saturday. In an obvious reversal, one worker had their firing undone in keeping with a letter seen by NPR. The letter, from Tom Nagy, the Chief Human Capital Officer on the division of Well being and Human Providers stated the worker’s Discount in Pressure was “hereby revoked.”
The supply stated they have been conscious of different reversals on the CDC, however it was unclear what number of staff obtained such letters.
Earlier than the reversals went out, one CDC official who was laid off advised NPR that the company had been the topic of sweeping cuts to employees at workplaces chargeable for illness surveillance, outbreak forecasting, power illnesses, and immunization and respiratory illnesses, to call however just a few. “In the event you needed to weaken America’s public well being capability with out saying it outright, that is the way you’d do it — take away the individuals who join the dots, regular the ship, and maintain the general public knowledgeable,” the official who was laid off advised NPR.
The New York Occasions additionally reported intensive cuts on the public well being company, together with two senior officers chargeable for overseeing the CDC’s measles response crew. HHS didn’t reply to NPR’s request for remark about CDC cuts by deadline.
NPR’s Pien Huang and Jeff Brady contributed to this report.
