Argentina President Javier Milei and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Letter follows mass layoffs from Trump Administration during ongoing Republican government shutdown

October 29, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), co-founder of the bipartisan Senate Mental Health Caucus, and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) led 15 Democratic Senate colleagues in slamming Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for firing federal employees at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) working on the frontlines of America’s opioid crisis. HHS has now terminated more than 100 SAMHSA employees since the start of the Trump Administration, reducing their staff to less than 50 percent capacity.

SAMHSA provides key addiction and mental health treatment services with a focus on rural and underserved areas and is responsible for programs like the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The Trump Administration’s layoffs of vital SAMHSA staff earlier this month as part of another government-wide reduction in force will lead to more Americans falling into addiction because they will be unable to access the agency’s critical addiction prevention and treatment services.

“Without cause, HHS terminated 125 employees, further decimating the agency that is a critical first responder on the frontlines of our nation’s ongoing substance use and mental health crises,” wrote the Senators. “… The firing of key staff at this agency threatens to undermine years of hard-won progress on the opioid crisis, and could not come at a worse time. Right now, communities across the country — in both red and blue states — continue to face record overdose deaths and escalating rates of mental health conditions and substance use disorder.”

“Your decision sends the wrong message to public health professionals — and to the families counting on them. It contradicts the administration’s own stated goals to tackle the fentanyl crisis, expand mental health services, and end the opioid epidemic. Terminating staff risks derailing the progress made by a workforce whose experience is irreplaceable,” continued the Senators.

Padilla and Wyden warned that these terminations will lead to more opioid-related deaths and illicit drugs flowing into communities across the United States. Kennedy’s decision to purge public health professionals not only derails progress made by a workforce with specialized experience, but it also contradicts the Administration’s pledge to tackle the fentanyl crisis, expand mental health services, and end the opioid epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 73,000 people died from overdosing from April 2024 to April 2025.

In addition to Padilla and Wyden, the letter to HHS was also signed by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.).

As co-chair of the bipartisan Senate Mental Health Caucus, Senator Padilla previously condemned the Trump Administration’s proposed dissolution of SAMHSA as part of HHS’ restructuring plan and the White House Office of Management and Budget’s HHS budget proposal. Earlier this year, Padilla led 12 Democratic Senators in warning HHS Secretary Kennedy that additional staffing cuts at SAMHSA would have disastrous ramifications for millions of Americans struggling with mental and behavioral health challenges. 

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Secretary Kennedy:

We are deeply alarmed by the recent firings at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency under your jurisdiction at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Without cause, HHS terminated 125 employees, further decimating the agency that is a critical first responder on the frontlines of our nation’s ongoing substance use and mental health crises. The firings that took place on October 10, 2025, were on top of the hundreds of people HHS fired in April, leaving SAMHSA at about half the staff it had in January. The firing of key staff at this agency threatens to undermine years of hard-won progress on the opioid crisis, and could not come at a worse time.

Right now, communities across the country – in both red and blue states – continue to face record overdose deaths and escalating rates of mental health conditions and substance use disorder. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 73,690 overdose deaths from April 2024 to April 2025. The opioid epidemic remains an ongoing public health emergency in the United States. In addition, youth suicide rates have risen by over 60% to all-time highs, and one in five Americans live with a mental health condition. Now more than ever, the federal government must be strengthening all efforts to respond to these dual crises, in addition to cracking down on the influx of illicit fentanyl into our country.

It is important to highlight that SAMHSA’s programs not only save lives, they save money. Mental illness and substance use already cost the U.S. economy more than $1 trillion each year in lost productivity, health care spending, and premature deaths. Terminating the experts at SAMHSA who coordinate our national response will deepen both the human and economic toll and ensure devastating impacts from increasing supplies of illicit drugs flowing into communities across the country.

For years, SAMHSA has been a cornerstone of America’s public health response; implementing evidence-based solutions, expanding access to key services in rural and underserved areas, and launching critical tools like 9-8-8, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. These efforts enjoy broad bipartisan support, delivering real results on a crisis that transcends party lines.

Your decision sends the wrong message to public health professionals—and to the families counting on them. It contradicts the administration’s own stated goals to tackle the fentanyl crisis, expand mental health services, and end the opioid epidemic. Terminating staff risks derailing the progress made by a workforce whose experience is irreplaceable.

We have seen your agency course-correct before, reversing similar mass terminations at the CDC. That same logic must apply here. The administration should be bolstering SAMHSA’s mission, not undercutting it.

The public expects a health department that’s focused on solutions, not politics. I urge you to reverse these terminations immediately and reaffirm your department’s commitment to the people on the ground doing the hard work to keep Americans safe and healthy.

Sincerely,

Source: Senator Alex Padilla