President Trump on Thursday will instruct the acting director of the Department of Health and Human Services to declare the opioid epidemic a public health emergency, White House officials said.
It’s a move that won’t free up additional federal funding and is a more narrow option recommended by the president’s opioid commission.
The announcement has been months in the making and avoids declaring a more sweeping national emergency under the Stafford Act, which was one option the administration’s opioid commission had previously recommended. The commission recommended either a public health emergency or a Stafford Act emergency.
The Stafford Act “doesn’t offer authority that is helpful here,” a senior administration official said. “There has been some false reporting about this.”