The Trump administration has announced nearly $2 billion in funding cuts to over 2,000 programs nationwide that provide essential services for addiction prevention, treatment, recovery, and mental health. This decision, communicated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is said to align with a shift towards innovative programs addressing rising rates of mental illness and substance abuse. However, established programs, including drug courts and educational initiatives aimed at overdose prevention, will be adversely affected. Notably, the Missouri statewide association of emergency medical services workers reported a loss of $5.2 million in funding for training personnel in overdose reversal and mental health crisis engagement. Despite a reported decline in overdose fatalities since 2023, provisional data indicates that approximately 72,000 deaths from substance abuse are still expected for the year ending August 2025.

In California, Martha Santana-Chin, CEO of L.A. Care, the largest Medi-Cal health plan, is facing challenges due to projected federal cuts to Medicaid under the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR 1). This legislation is anticipated to result in a loss of 650,000 enrollees from L.A. Care by 2028, creating significant financial strain on the health plan, which reported revenues of $11.7 billion last fiscal year. California has already implemented measures such as freezing new Medi-Cal enrollments for undocumented immigrants and reintroducing asset limits in response to budget deficits. Santana-Chin has emphasized the importance of equitable healthcare access and expressed concerns that the expected cuts could destabilize the healthcare delivery system, affecting not only those losing coverage but also the broader community.

On the federal level, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto has raised alarms regarding the implications of increased funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which allocates $75 billion to expand ICE operations. Senator Cortez Masto criticized this funding as ineffective for public safety, noting that a significant portion of ICE arrests involve individuals without criminal convictions. She introduced the PUBLIC SAFETY Act to redirect funding from ICE to local law enforcement initiatives, proposing to transfer $29.85 billion to the COPS Hiring Program to enable communities to hire more police officers. This legislation aims to prioritize local law enforcement, which is better equipped to address community safety needs, while maintaining ICE's regular funding. The act also seeks to support small and rural police departments, emphasizing the need for humane immigration enforcement and community investment in public safety.