House Rules Committee advances reauthorization to fund opioid prevention, amid dispute over SAMHSA reorganization

The House Rules Committee on Monday approved a structured rule to bring HR 24 83, the Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025, to the House floor, but debate revealed sharp partisan disagreement over whether the administration’s reorganization of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will undercut the law’s intent.

Supporters said the bill reauthorizes programs for opioid use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery that were first enacted in the SUPPORT Act of 2018 and credited earlier bipartisan investments with recent declines in overdose deaths. Opponents warned that the Trump administration’s personnel cuts and proposed rescissions at the Department of Health and Human Services and SAMHSA make the reauthorization hollow without protections or funding assurances.

The bill’s supporters, including witnesses from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, described the legislation as a continuation of bipartisan work to expand naloxone access, strengthen prescription drug monitoring programs and fund prevention, treatment and recovery services. “We must ensure communities have the tools to improve prevention, treatment, and recovery services for patients with substance use…