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Alliance Alert: President Trump has nominated Dr. Timothy Westlake to serve as Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a position that would put him at the helm of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Dr. Westlake currently serves as SAMHSA’s Chief of Staff and brings decades of experience as an emergency physician, involvement in state and federal substance use policy, and his own experience of long-term recovery.
The Alliance for Rights and Recovery will continue to closely monitor this nomination and the direction of SAMHSA and the broader federal government. At a time of significant change in federal mental health and substance use policy, we remain committed to pushing federal leaders to prioritize recovery-oriented, voluntary, community-based services that help people live full lives in their communities and reduce reliance on institutionalization, coercive interventions, and other restrictive settings.
While Congress ultimately controls federal appropriations and determines how much funding is available for many mental health and substance use programs, SAMHSA plays an enormously important role in determining how those resources are used. The agency helps set national priorities for mental health and substance use prevention, treatment, recovery, crisis response, and peer support, while also administering discretionary grants that can help states and communities develop and expand emerging approaches. Leadership at SAMHSA can therefore have a major influence on which models receive federal attention, technical assistance, and investment.
As Dr. Westlake’s nomination moves through the Senate confirmation process, the Alliance will be watching closely for indications of how a new administration at SAMHSA will approach recovery supports, peer services, crisis response, substance use services, community integration, and the rights of people with mental health and substance use challenges. We will continue working with our national partners to advocate for federal policies and investments that strengthen voluntary community services and give people meaningful alternatives to hospitalization and institutionalization.
These rapidly changing federal policies will also be an important focus of the Alliance for Rights and Recovery Annual Conference, September 23–25 in Albany. This year’s conference will feature several workshops and discussions examining the major federal and state policy shifts affecting mental health and substance use services, recovery, community integration, and individual rights. Attendees will have opportunities to hear what is changing, understand what those changes could mean for people and providers, and discuss how advocates can respond.
With consequential decisions being made in Washington that could shape behavioral health services for years to come, it is critical that our community remains informed, engaged, and prepared to advocate. We encourage you to join us in Albany this September as we come together to protect rights, strengthen recovery-oriented services, and help shape what comes next.
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Meet Trump’s Pick to Lead SAMHSA
By Ella Ruder | Becker’s Behavioral Health | July 23, 2026
On July 14, President Donald Trump nominated Timothy Westlake, MD, of Wisconsin, to serve as assistant secretary for mental health and substance use at HHS — the position that oversees the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Dr. Westlake currently serves as chief of staff at SAMHSA, where he supports agency leadership and operations that advance national mental health and substance use priorities. If confirmed by the Senate, he would move from that behind-the-scenes role into the top job leading the agency — succeeding a post that has sat without a Senate-confirmed leader for stretches of the current administration.
Who is Dr. Westlake?
Dr. Westlake is a board-certified emergency physician with more than 25 years of clinical experience in community emergency medicine. He has spoken publicly about nearly three decades of his own long-term recovery, which he has cited as informing his approach to addiction policy.
In Wisconsin, he built an extensive record in state health policy, chairing the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board and serving on the Wisconsin Controlled Substances Board, and was the physician architect of the state’s prescription opioid reform strategy, including serving on the governor’s task force on opioid abuse. He’s also testified before Congress multiple times on the fentanyl crisis, including before House Energy and Commerce and Senate Judiciary panels.
Why the nomination matters
Dr. Westlake’s signature policy achievement is class-wide fentanyl scheduling, treating fentanyl-related substances as a category rather than requiring the Drug Enforcement Administration to schedule each new chemical variant individually. He originated the initial legislative framework in Wisconsin in 2016, and that approach evolved into federal law as the HALT Fentanyl Act in 2025. He’s also credited with drafting the VA prescription opioid reform provisions included in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, known as CARA.
The Wisconsin bill, known as the SOFA Act — Stopping Overdoses of Fentanyl Analogues — grew out of the death of a Wisconsin teenager, Archie Badura, whom Dr. Westlake treated for overdoses before Mr. Badura’s fatal poisoning, a personal story he has referenced in congressional testimony.
His nomination puts a physician with direct emergency-room experience treating overdoses, a personal recovery history, and a policy track record on fentanyl scheduling in charge of the federal agency that sets national priorities on mental health and substance use treatment, prevention and crisis response, including the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
The nomination is pending before the Senate. His confirmation hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Meet Trump’s pick to lead SAMHSA – Becker’s Behavioral Health