STAT+: Trump administration quietly picks Timothy Westlake to lead mental health agency
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- Timothy Westlake, a Wisconsin-based physician with decades of clinical and policy experience, has been nominated by Trump to serve as assistant secretary of mental health and substance use.
- SAMHSA has operated without a long-term leader since Trump's January 2025 inauguration, and Westlake would also head the agency if confirmed by the Senate.
- The White House did not formally announce Westlake's nomination, instead quietly including his name in a list of nominees sent to the Senate on July 14.
- By contrast, Trump publicly announced his pick for the related Office of National Drug Control Policy — Sara Carter, a former Fox News correspondent — on Truth Social in March 2025.
- SAMHSA controls billions of dollars in funding and regulates the practice of psychiatry and addiction medicine, making the long leadership vacuum consequential for federal addiction policy.
- Trump's nomination comes nearly 18 months into his presidency, making SAMHSA a notably late priority for permanent leadership.
Why it matters: SAMHSA controls billions in mental health and addiction funding and regulates the practice of psychiatry and addiction medicine, yet the agency has lacked a Senate-confirmed leader since Trump's January 2025 inauguration. The quiet July 14 nomination — absent any formal White House announcement — stands in sharp contrast to the high-profile Truth Social rollout Trump gave drug czar nominee Sara Carter, underscoring how the administration's two top drug-policy chairs have been filled with very different levels of public attention.
