White House Proposes Consolidation and Reorganization of Addiction Funding in the FY26 Budget Request
- Addiction Policy Forum
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
On May 30, 2025, the White House released the budget request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, calling for $32 billion in cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and $18 billion from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The budget also includes major changes in the structure and organization of many federal grant programs and agencies focusing on substance use disorder research, prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
HHS Programs
The budget combines multiple agencies– the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), select programs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others—into a new, agency called the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA), housed in HHS. Under AHA, the White House allocated $5.8 billion to provide mental health services, suicide prevention, and substance use prevention treatment, including:
$4 billion for the Behavioral Health Innovation Block Grant, a new block grant program to consolidate funding for the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant, Substance Use Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Support Services Block Grant, and State Opioid Response.
$80 million for a new Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorder Resources for Native Americans grant program.
$520 million, an $18 million increase, for the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
$21 million, or level funding, for Assisted Outpatient Treatment.
$70 million to address substance use at the community level.
$11 million, or level funding, for Opioid Treatment programs.
The new Behavioral Health Innovation Block Grant combines the funding for the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant, Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Support Services Block Grant, and State Opioid Response. States would be able to administer a variety of intervention activities, including crisis services, services to address serious mental illness, prevention, treatment, and recovery from substance use disorder (SUD), and preventing and responding to overdoses.
NIH and NIDA
The White House’s budget calls for reducing the NIH’s discretionary budget by approximately 40%, or $18 billion, bringing it down to $27.5 billion. Additionally, it suggests consolidating NIH’s 27 institutes and centers into just eight. Under the reorganization proposed in the budget, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and the National Institute of Mental Health would be consolidated into the National Institute of Behavioral Health.
Under this reorganization, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and National Cancer Institute would be retained, while eliminating institutes focused on minority health, alternative medicine, nursing, and global health.
Program | FY2025 | FY2026 | Change |
National Institute of Behavioral Health | - - - - - - - - | 2,785,000,000 | +$2,785,000,000 |
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) | $1,662,695,000 | 0 | - $1,662,695,000 |
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) | $595,318,000 | 0 | -$595,318,000 |
National Institute of Mental Health | $2,278,000,000 | 0 | -$2,278,000,000 |
Total | $4,536,013,000 | 2,785,000,000 | -$1,751,013,000 |
ONDCP Programs
The budget proposes transferring two Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) programs, the Drug-Free Communities program and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, to HHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ), respectively. The budget allocates $70 million to the Drug Free Communities grant, a program that provides grants to community coalitions to reduce local youth substance use. Additionally, President Trump’s budget awards $196 million for HIDTA, which provides assistance to Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. The administration states the proposal to move the programs from ONDCP “will enable ONDCP to focus resources on its core mission: to reduce drug use and its consequences by leading and coordinating the development, implementation, and assessment of U.S. drug policy.” Likewise, the HIDTA move allows for “improved coordination" with the Department of Justice’s other drug enforcement efforts.
Next Steps
Each year after the president’s budget is sent to Capitol Hill, it enters the hands of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, whose job is to write the actual spending bills. Lawmakers craft 12 separate appropriations bills that correspond to different areas of the government, from defense to education to public health. These bills must ultimately be passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the president to become law.
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