Donald Trump has talked big about the action he was going to take to combat the opioid epidemic, describing it as a “national emergency,” which he said he was “saying officially, right now” back in August. Except he wasn't actually officially declaring a national emergency then or at any of the other times he decided to try to sound serious about opioids. The day of the official declaration has come and … Trump isn’t declaring a national emergency. Instead, he’s declaring a public health emergency.
The move is different from the broad order Trump previewed over the last few months. The President, according to these officials, will direct acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Eric Hargan to declare a public health emergency under the Public Health Services Act, which directs federal agencies to provide more grant money to combat the epidemic, not an order through the Stafford Act.
There will be no additional federal funding directed under this order, said an official, who stressed that the Trump administration will work with Congress to fund the Public Health Emergency fund and to increase federal funding in year-end budget deals currently being negotiated in Congress.
Last week, he promised a “major statement” this week, leaving administration officials scrambling to figure out how they could possibly implement a national emergency on something as widespread and amorphous as the opioid epidemic. Now, the statement is less major than its billing suggested and comes with no additional federal funding, so what we’re looking at is yet another example of All-Talk-No-Action Trump.