Congressional Republicans who represent states hit hard by the opioid crisis are pushing back on a White House request to cut funding for a naloxone training and distribution program, saying the overdose-reversing drug saves too many lives to slash.
Trump’s proposed budget for 2026 includes a restructuring and downsizing of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the termination of many substance abuse programs, including a $56 million annual grant program that distributes naloxone doses and trains first responders on how to administer the drug, more commonly known by its brand name, Narcan.
While the president’s budget is just a suggestion for Congress — as Republican lawmakers repeatedly told NOTUS — cutting funding for naloxone programs is one recommendation some are not willing to take up.
“I’ll probably speak with President Trump directly,” Sen. Jim Justice, a Republican, told NOTUS. “It is a real need, and there’s a real necessity in West Virginia, because we have lots and lots of issues there.”
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Justice was, until recently, the governor of West Virginia, the state with the highest rate of overdose deaths. Using the state’s surplus funds, he launched an addiction recovery program called “Jim’s Dream” in 2019. He said the program, now called “Jobs and Hope,” has helped calm the state’s crisis, but “we’ve got a long ways to go, and the whole nation has got a long ways to go.”
Rep. Mark Alford of Missouri told NOTUS he would contact the White House “to make sure that we try to get that funding in,” given its role in the rural communities he represents.
“It’s so important, because we are putting the tariffs in place to try to cut down on the fentanyl poisoning that’s coming from China and Mexico, some through Canada, but at the same time, we’ve got to make sure that the resources are available for rural districts like Missouri, and elsewhere in America, that we have the tools to save lives,” Alford said.
The grant program was administered by SAMHSA, which Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to consolidate, along with four other health agencies, into a new “Administration for a Healthy America.” HHS declined to comment on how the transition would affect other drug abuse-related programs and grants the agency administers, but Trump’s proposal of a 30% cut to the Department of Health and Human Services could force the elimination of similar programs.
Overdose deaths have recently dropped significantly in the U.S. — down 27% last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. In February, the CDC cited the “widespread, data-driven distribution of naloxone” as one reason deaths were declining.
An Office of Management and Budget spokesperson told NOTUS in an emailed statement that the Trump administration was moving away from previous administrations’ programs that it claims promoted “‘harm reduction’ ideology that actually encouraged addiction.”
“President Trump’s Budget aims to actually solve the problem of substance abuse, not only by stopping the flow of deadly drugs across the border brought by illegals, but also by funding over $4 billion in grants toward mental health services, addiction treatment and overdose prevention while rooting out practices that promoted substance abuse,” the spokesperson emailed NOTUS. “The President’s Budget gives states substantial funding they can use to purchase Narcan and creates a new Behavioral Health Innovation Block Grant program.”
Under Trump, significantly less fentanyl is being intercepted at U.S. borders, according to Customs and Border Patrol statistics. That’s one reason some Republicans told NOTUS that the program was less necessary than it once was.
“That’s probably part of the process with China and us putting pressure on them about the fentanyl manufacturing and the border being far more secure. I think that probably makes sense at this point in time,” Rep. Barry Moore of Alabama told NOTUS. “I don’t really think that that’s a problem, with the drops we’re seeing on the fentanyl crossing the border.”
And some pointed to the over-the-counter availability of the drug, and said it was more affordable now than when these grant programs first launched. Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said federal programs making naloxone more available were “a huge help,” but he also thought cities could handle it now.
“The great news is, according to all my officers back home, we’re seeing a huge drop in the fentanyl, and the overdoses are coming down,” Marshall told NOTUS. “The federal government shouldn’t have to do every program. So I think that the local communities, we gave them a good start, they should be able to take care of this themselves now.”
To make a similar point, Rep. Darrell Issa of California showed NOTUS an online store listing for the overdose-reversing drug.
“Narcan used to be fairly expensive. Today, it’s pretty close to free. And I can tell you, the amount of them that are distributed and in people’s hands is amazing,” he said. “It is quite inexpensive now, so for local cities, it’s not a burden to buy.”
Some Republican lawmakers said they weren’t too worried about Trump’s proposal to zero out the program, given that Congress will ultimately get its say later on in the reconciliation process and future budget debates about which programs get defunded.
“You know, it’s a whole process. And Narcan does save lives. My sheriffs, my chiefs of police, the average cop on the beat will tell you, ‘Narcan saves lives.’ The president proposes. We come up with different priorities — back and forth, back and forth,” Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey told NOTUS. “So, I’m not worried about it.”
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Emily Kennard is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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