President Donald Trump Signs Great American Recovery Initiative Order

President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the White House Great American Recovery Initiative, the White House said, noting the ceremony took place on Feb. 25, 2025, though other reports give the signing date as Jan. 29, 2025.

The order establishes a task force to coordinate prevention, early intervention, treatment, recovery support and reentry programs, chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and adviser Kathryn Burgum, according to a White House fact sheet.

Addiction experts and advocates offered mixed reactions, with Dr. Stephen Taylor, president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, urging expansion of Medicaid and Medicare coverage and Keith Humphreys of Stanford warning that the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill Act would cut Medicaid by $1 trillion over 10 years and undermine the plan.

Advocates cited data showing 48.5 million people over age 12 suffered a substance use disorder in 2024, including more than 28 million with drug use disorder and 27.9 million with alcohol use disorder, underscoring long-standing treatment gaps.

Policy analysts said Congress must provide funding and legislative changes — including potential reintroduction of the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act of 2023 to expand methadone access — for the initiative to materially increase treatment nationwide, experts said.