JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
President Trump has made the fight against fentanyl overdoses a top priority in this term. This afternoon, he signed legislation imposing new, tougher penalties for fentanyl traffickers while criminalizing a wider range of substances.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: As of today, all fentanyl-related substances will be banned forever. And those who traffic in these deadly poisons will be put behind bars for a very long period of time.
SUMMERS: But while the White House is intensifying the response to fentanyl trafficking, NPR has learned that the Trump administration is now withholding roughly $140 million in grants. The money, which was approved by Congress, funds the fentanyl and addiction response around the country. Sources say lifesaving public health programs in every state are now threatened. NPR's addiction correspondent Brian Mann broke this story. He's here in the studio. Hi, Brian.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: So, Brian, tell us, how do we know that this money is being withheld?
MANN: So NPR has four sources inside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this federal agency, who agreed to speak anonymously about this in detail. They said they don't have permission to speak publicly about their concerns. They fear retribution from the Trump administration if they're identified. These CDC staffers told me this big, key pool of grant money called the Overdose Data to Action program, worth roughly $290 million in total, pays for key pieces of the fentanyl overdose response all over the U.S. But now about half that total allocation is frozen. They say it may never be paid out. That adds up to roughly $140 million.
SUMMERS: Brian, that sounds like a lot of money to me. What have you been hearing from public health officials?
MANN: Yeah, they're really worried about this. Drug overdose deaths have been dropping. A lot of states and local public health departments say this money contributed to that progress. Now they've basically paused any planning or spending for next year's use of this federal addiction money, even though, again, it's in the budget approved by Congress. I spoke about this with Chrissie Juliano, who heads a group called Big Cities Health Coalition. It's a group of about 35 of the largest urban public health departments in the country.
CHRISSIE JULIANO: It's been a critical piece of the decreases that we've seen in overdose deaths, definitely going in the right direction. And any changes to funding levels would be catastrophic and would really send us backwards.
MANN: One other big fear, Juana, about this funding bottleneck that I'm hearing is about drug monitoring. The Trump administration has already defunded a lot of the scientific effort that had been tracking changes in the deadly street drug supply. This Overdose Data to Action program funds a lot of the research that's still going on out there. So if these programs are defunded, experts say the U.S. is going to be flying blind as this overdose crisis continues.
SUMMERS: And then, Brian, what have you been hearing from the Trump administration about this reporting?
MANN: Yeah, NPR has tried repeatedly to talk on the record to the Department of Health and Human Services, the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy and the CDC itself. We've sent them detailed questions. They just haven't responded.
SUMMERS: OK. Last thing. I mean, given the fact that President Trump has made fentanyl such a big priority of the second term, any idea why these funds are being withheld?
MANN: We don't know for sure. My sources inside the CDC say they believe this is not ideological. They don't think it's a dispute over policy. Instead, they say there appears to be growing bureaucratic confusion and muddle between federal agencies and President Trump's DOGE cost-cutting effort. CDC sources shared notes with me from a meeting they held last week where top CDC officials voiced frustration. They say they've been sending information to DOGE. They've been trying to get this grant money reviewed and cleared for passing out to states and local officials. But now they've had to warn state and public agencies that these dollars may just never arrive.
SUMMERS: NPR's Brian Mann with some exclusive reporting. Brian, thanks for bringing it to us.
MANN: Thanks, Juana. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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