Sick of Trump’s Reckless Decisions. Stand with Americans, Not Autocracy.

On Friday, October 10, the Trump administration fired over 125 employees at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the agency that oversees the 988 suicide hotline and distributes billions in grants for addiction treatment during an opioid crisis. Workers received termination notices at 8 p.m. with no explanation for who was cut or why. The same night, Trump gutted the CDC’s disease surveillance teams, outbreak forecasting staff, and senior officials managing the measles response. Over 4,200 federal workers total lost their jobs on October 10th alone. Treasury lost 1,446 employees. Health and Human Services lost over 1,100. These aren’t budget cuts. Trump admitted it himself: the layoffs will be “Democrat-oriented” and target “popular Democrat programs.” This is a tantrum, not governance. No previous government shutdown has triggered permanent layoffs. Workers are furloughed temporarily, then return when funding resumes. Trump is exploiting the shutdown to punish political opponents and dismantle agencies he dislikes. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency lost staff because its former director confirmed Trump lost the 2020 election. That’s retaliation masquerading as reform. Meanwhile, Trump cut $18 billion for New York infrastructure, $8 billion for climate programs in states that voted for Harris, and $2 billion for Chicago transit. He’s not saving money. He’s settling scores while Americans lose access to mental health services, disease monitoring, and federal protections that keep us safe. Dr. Rachel Winograd, a University of Missouri psychologist, told NPR that SAMHSA funds “are the backbone of behavioral health in this country. If those grants were to go away, we’d be screwed.” A laid-off CDC official said, “If you wanted to weaken America’s public health capacity without saying it outright, this is how you’d do it.” Republicans and Democrats should agree that suicide prevention, disease surveillance, and cybersecurity aren’t partisan issues. They protect all Americans. Yet Trump is destroying them to own the libs while the government remains closed because he refuses to compromise. I demand you publicly oppose these cuts, vote to reopen the government immediately, and restore funding to agencies that protect American lives. Mental health crises don’t wait for political stunts to end. Disease outbreaks don’t care about Trump’s grudges.