The Trump administration on Wednesday reportedly reversed course on grant cuts it made to several programs for mental health services just a day after they were put in place.
The cuts totalled around $2 billion, according to estimates by the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors. Had they been left in place, some programs would have closed their doors as soon as Thursday.
Several outlets, including NPR and The New York Times, reported that the cuts had been reversed, citing administration sources. The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the funding reversal.
“These funds are not just numbers on a ledger,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican and co-chair of the House Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force, in a statement after the funding was reversed. “They keep clinics open, counselors at work, and help within reach for people who are struggling in our community and across the country.”
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Grant recipients received a form letter on Tuesday saying their funding from the program would be revoked with no opportunity for corrective action. The past 24 hours were a whirlwind for the roughly 2,000 organizations, which provide addiction and mental health services, that were given notice.
Lawmakers on the House Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force and the Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus heavily criticized the cuts. A hundred of them, including both Democrats and Republicans, signed a letter demanding the reversal of funding cuts on Wednesday.
“Addressing mental health and substance use disorders is a bipartisan priority and should never be treated as a partisan issue,” the lawmakers said in a statement on Wednesday, before the administration reversed course.
Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee were also outraged by the cuts and reemphasized, after they were reversed, that Congress has the power of the purse.
“After national outrage, [HHS] Secretary Kennedy has bowed to public pressure and reinstated $2 billion in SAMHSA grants that save lives. These are cuts he should not have issued in the first place,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, in a statement Wednesday.
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