Disability Rights Watch

Category: RFK Jr.

  • Week 31 Updates

    1. Starting tonight, the National Guard in DC will be armed, as Trump plans a deployment in 19 more states. As other states’ National Guard and federal DHS agents stage a hostile takeover of Washington DC, it’s common to see five or more soldiers taking down just one person–now they will have guns.

    Nearly 1000 people have been arrested in the district in the last week, many of whom were unhoused, disabled, immigrants, or at the intersection thereof–ICE is also present.

    The administration announced additional deployments to at least 19 more states, often at the protest of local officials in targeted areas, who say there are no emergencies warranting the takeovers. Deploying the National Guard as a precursor to a declaration of martial law was a key desire expressed in Project 2025.

    2. Supreme Court votes to OK Trump’s NIH funding cuts. In a 5-4 ruling, SCOTUS ruled that Trump and RFK Jr. can remove $800 billion in funding from the NIH, a move that had previously been blocked by a lower court injunction. The NIH funding in question was labeled “woke” or “DEI” by the administration, but was actually for work in Alzheimer’s, cancer, HIV, youth suicide, climate-driven health crises, and other lifesaving biomedical research.

    3. Trump’s Department of Justice subpoenas children’s hospitals in an attempt to get privileged medical information about children receiving gender-affirming care. Multiple hospitals including the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have reported the request and are pushing back. Gender-affirming care is a safe and evidence-based way to support children and teens experiencing gender dysphoria, and hormone therapy is also often used for children experiencing various other medical conditions unrelated to gender expression.

    About 30-40% of trans people are also disabled; however, this invasion of medical privacy should be of concern to all people, especially in the hands of an administration that has been vocal about its eugenic policy.

    4. Local: Texas HB2, 6 a mixed bag for state education. A series of education-based law changes are going into effect this back-to-school, with some high and lowlights on the scene. Pay raises for teachers, more teacher input into state testing, and raising the baseline funding available for special education students are some positives.

    The forcible inclusion of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms (currently blocked by a judge), increased book banning, and broader use of suspensions and out placements to deal with behavior issues are some concerns.

    5. Local: Florida HB1105 removes high school certificates of completion for disabled students. Previously, if a student with significant disabilities could not meet the requirements for a standard high school diploma (ex: students in lifeskills-based programs not eligible for taking high-school level content exams) they were issued an alternative diploma or Certificate of Completion marking their attendance of four years of high school and the completion of their special education programming.

    Florida will now no longer issue the certificates, meaning disabled students will leave high school with nothing, making it difficult for them to find employment, take vocational or college courses, and more. Advocates say this is a backdoor way to avoid funding for special education, forcing disabled students to leave school entirely.

    What to Do:

    Please find a way to share this information in addition to social media. As you may have seen, we have been shadowbanned and have taken several weeks off of posting in hopes of resetting the cache and developing new workarounds to combat the algorithm. But this is only the beginning–the more robust our information networks the easier it will be to communicate as censorship ramps up.

  • Week 30 Update

    1. Trump Administration begins military takeover of DC, targeting unhoused. In conjunction with his executive order targeting unhoused people, and false claims of high crime rates, Trump deployed the National Guard in Washington DC and also attempted to order the Attorney General to take over the local police force. Initially the Guardspeople weren’t supposed to be armed, but that was a lie.

    The forces have already begun massive sweeps and arrests against unhoused (or perceived unhoused) people, and Ohio and South Carolina have pledged more forces.

    The hostile takeover by the federal government and other capitulating states’ militias–a key part of Project 2025 and paralleled by many historical authoritarians–is meeting little pushback from establishment Dems. Several motions in court aim to block the actions. Unclear whether rule of law remains.
    Approximately half of unhoused people have a disability and 8% are military veterans.

    2.RFK Jr Plans to Remove Preventative Care Taskforce/Guidelines. RFK Jr. announced plans to remove the Preventative Medicine Taskforce, which he called “too woke,” sparking “deep concerns” from the American Medical Association and others.

    The Taskforce, which is nonpartisan and has been vetted for any conflicts of interest, offers evidence-based guidance on preventative medicine for a range of conditions, like when patients should have cancer or diabetes screenings, HIV preventatives and cholesterol medication.

    Without taskforce guidance, patients will have more inconsistent care, and insurance companies may not pay for preventative screenings or appointments.

    3. They’re messing with the elections, continued. The Texas legislature continues its pursuit of illegal redistricting after Trump asked the state to find him five more red seats. Texas Dems are returning to the state, and the proceedings will likely continue.

    Meanwhile, Callais v. Landry, a Louisiana-based redistricting case that is poised to destroy Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act remains on the SCOTUS shadow docket, with a date set for October. In California, Governor Newsom has threatened to make similar redistricting moves in his state in order to secure more blue districts to offset the Texas ones.

    While Newsom’s stylized tweets have gone viral for annoying Trump, ultimately gerrymandering continues to contribute to voter suppression and is unlikely to end in TX, CA, or LA.

    6. Trump tries new defunding tactics for DoEd, pushes conservative curriculum. The Trump Administration continues to attempt back door defunding of DoED. The latest: Congress is currently negotiating the bipartisan version of their budget bill. However, the Administration has already said DoED funding will be removed later via rescissions package. This move only requires 50 votes.

    Rescissions is also how funding already allocated to PBS was revoked by the administration earlier this summer. At least ten states are planning to use ultraconservative children’s materials out of PragerU (an unaccredited think tank pretending to be a university) to fill the gap.

    Prager’s materials include animated videos in which cartoon historical figures present imagined “anti-woke” talking points, like one in which Christopher Columbus tells children slavery is, “better than being killed” and Frederick Douglass calls it, “a compromise.”

    7. Local: PA GOP refuses to fund mass transit, devastating cities, statewide economy. GOP-led PA failed to pass comprehensive funding for the South Eastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority and other mass transit across the state.
    Specifically, SEPTA, serving Philadelphia and its suburbs, will see 20% service cuts and 21.5% fare raises staring this month. The removal of bus lines, fewer regional rail times and 9PM curfews, and the elimination of special events trains will devastate both worker and tourist mobility.

    Despite chronic underfunding and restrictions that prohibit Philadelphia itself from delegating more funding, SEPTA uses their funds most efficiently per capita compared to other authorities, and provides a 70% return on investment, as Philly functions as a main economic engine for a largely rural state.

    Philadelphia’s population is 40% Black and has the highest percentage of disabled residents of a major US city–marginalized and working class people will bear the burden of these cuts.

    8. Local: Arkansas School Discipline ACT 565 and 804
    ACT 565 stipulates that students removed from a classroom for behavioral reasons cannot be reinstated into the classroom if the behavior affected a teacher or student negatively.

    ACT 804 “Law Concerning the Use of Positive Behavioral Supports in Public School Districts” removes language that implements other behavioral protocol before seclusion or restraint.

    Any educational law that dictates blanket policy on behavioral protocol or classroom placement is violation of FAPE and the IEP process.

    Disabled and BIPOC children are disproportionately impacted by punitive disciplinary policies in public schools.

    9. Silicon Valley proposes eugenics as solution to fears of hostile AI takeover. Recently, leaders in the Silicon Valley sphere have presented a solution to fears of an eventual hostile AI takeover, and reports that conversing with AI has caused mental health issues: eugenics.

    Prenatal eugenic “enhancement” has long been a darling project of the techbro set, but now they are explicitly advocating for modifications made to embryos that might ensure a “higher IQ” for the resulting child, in order to combat future issues with AI.

    Advocates argue that this is not the same as the “bad kind of eugenics.” However, given the racist and ableist foundations of IQ, its obvious that they are of a piece.

    Historically, eugenics has always been framed in a positive light as a way to “advance” the human race, and has always resulted in the forced sterilization and/or murder of those deemed “undesirable” by those in power.

    Action Items: Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.

    Hit the streets if you are able. March, attend a town hall, school board meeting, or other local action.

    Protect your neighbors. Warn and record in the presence of ICE. Push your local officials not to collaborate.

    Donate to your local food pantry, library, clinics, cash bail funds, or other mutual aid if you can. Or volunteer your time.

    Call your Senators: YES to the Appropriations Committee’s push back on budget cuts and support for DC.

    Make sure you’re up to date on your vaccines. Ditch the wearable tech and AI when possible.

    Think about ways to spread information offline. Make flyers and stickers. Make art.

  • Week 29 Update

    1. Executive Order: Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking. Trump signed an executive order this week that gives the executive branch approval control over research grants disbursed by the NHS, NIH, and other agencies.
      This will add an unnecessary extra layer of bureaucracy and censorship, in which scientists will have to defend their projects to people have no scientific knowledge, rather than a peer-review process by fellow experts.

      The order also puts grants that work in fields that focus on or support marginalized populations at risk due to the administration’s anti-DEIA rhetoric–research that mentions disability, examines race or ethnicity-based prevalence of specific diseases or conditions, highlights race, gender, or class disparities or other biases, will be eliminated on the basis of ideological warfare rather than scientific value.
    2.  RFK Jr. cancels 22 programs, $500 million in vaccine funding. RFK Jr. announced the revoking of $500 million dollars in funding, specifically for mRNA projects. RFK has spoken about his distrust for mRNA technology re: the covid vaccine, but the methodology is actually the latest frontier in a wide variety of vaccine and medical tech, including in customizable cancer treatments.

      In the same week, the FDA also floated plans not to renew approval for the Pfizer pediatric 0-5 covid vaccine, the only one for this age group.

      Misinformation kills in more than one way: Shortly after RFK’s anti-mRNA speech, Patrick White opened fired on CDC headquarters in Atlanta, believing himself to be injured by a covid vaccine. White and a police officer were killed.
    3. Good news: Deaf Mongolian Man Released from ICE Detention. Avirmed, a Deaf immigrant who turned himself in at the California-Mexican border to seek asylum, had been detained by ICE for months, after DHS failed to process his written request for asylum, perform the credible fear screening, or provide him a Mongolian Sign Language interpreter. At one point they attempted to communicate via Google Translate, getting basic case facts wrong. He also had no accessible way to contact his sister, who is a resident of Virginia.

      On July 9, a judge ordered that he be provided with an interpreter. Once communication was established, he was able to present his case and has since been released. He is currently living with his sister. Avirmed is just another of many disabled people held illegally by ICE in squalid conditions without accommodations or information.
    4. Big Pharma joins race to profit off measles as cases surge to 33-year high. With cases at a 33-year high, pharmaceutical companies are hoping for “investor interest” on a potential measles cure. Previously broad uptake of the vaccine had eradicated the disease in the US.

      Several pharmaceutical companies are working on synthetic monoclonal antibodies that could be used to treat the infected, who are mostly unvaccinated. (In contrast, a vaccine teaches the body to make its own antibodies upon contact with the disease so the person can avoid serious illness).

      In the Wellness arena, grifters continue to make money on the outbreak, though with no guardrails–one popular recommendation of large doses of vitamin A left several poisoned and hospitalized with overdoses.

      The original anti-MMR rhetoric was also a grift–Wakefield wrote a fraudulent paper linking MMR and autism so he could sell his own version of the vaccine. Subsequent studies with sample sizes totaling more than half a million children worldwide have disproven any link between vaccines and autism, a developmental difference present from birth and believed to be largely genetic.
    5. They’re messing with the elections, continued. The Texas legislature continues its pursuit of illegal redistricting after Trump asked the state to find him five more red seats. Texas Dems fled the state to break quorum and are now threatened with arrest and bomb threats. (If you have a Democratic rep. or Senator, tell them to support their Texas colleagues!)

      Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has taken up Callais v. Landry, a Louisiana-based redistricting case that is poised to destroy Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

      Trump also asked for a new mid-season census in order to remove noncitizens from the data. Legal precedent has already decided that noncitizens should be counted during census-taking, which is about overall resource distribution per capita, not citizenship status. Voting rights advocates worry this is an attempt to take up large scale redistricting efforts.
    6. Administration tightens grip on public information via censorship. The Library of Congress was caught deleting portions of the online copy of the U.S. Constitution, specifically protections against detention without due process. When called out, they blamed a “coding error,” though computer scientists broadly agree this is unlikely.

      Meanwhile, a Paramount/Skydance merger has resulted in new levels of capitulation, including the placement of a government-sanctioned “truth arbiter” to oversee journalism at CBS. The FCC commissioner (a Dem), slammed the deal, saying it allows for. “never-before-seen forms of government control over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment-actions that violate both the First Amendment and the law.”

      Removing access to news and civic info, especially via low-cost access points like local news or government websites, is a key tenet of authoritarianism.

      Action Items:
      Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.

      Hit the streets if you are able, for ex: look out for ICE detention center protests, a We are America march, town halls, or other local actions. If you can’t attend in person, you can donate to carpool or bus ticket funds for larger marches.

      Protect your neighbors. Warn and record in the presence of ICE. Push your local officials not to collaborate.

      Donate to your local food pantry, library, clinics, cash bail funds, or other mutual aid if you can. Or volunteer your time.

      Call your Senators: YES to the Appropriations Committee’s push back on budget cuts. NO to illegal redistricting and RFK’s vaccine cuts.

      Make sure you’re up to date on your vaccines. Ditch the wearable tech if possible.

      Think about ways to spread information offline. Make flyers and stickers. Make art.

  • Week 28 Update

    1. Department of Health and Human Services reclassifies Head Start. This week, HHS reclassified Head Start as a welfare program instead of an educational program. This reverses the legal precedent of Plyler v. Doe that all children in the US have a right to education.

      The reclassification allows HHS to restrict children’s access to Head Start programming on the basis of immigration, income, other other statuses, (if the program continues–the administration’s current budget bill also cuts funding).

      Head Start provides early education, family support, health and nutritional services, with a focus on children 0-5 and pregnant women.
    2. Appeals Court erodes Voting Rights Act protections for disabled and ELL voters. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals held that neither voters nor private organizations can sue under Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act. This statute is supposed to protect the rights of disabled voters, English language learners, and those with other language barriers who need assistance at the polls.

      The ruling says only the Department of Justice can enforce the law, and also upheld an Arkansas law that allows for criminal charges against anyone who helps more than six voters at the polls.
    3. Jobs report and economic indicators paint a grim picture. A dismal July jobs report shows that only 106,000 jobs were added over the past three months, a quarter million fewer than previously reported. These are some of the worst Labor statistics to come out since early pandemic.

      Unhappy with the poor numbers, President Trump then fired the Labor Statistics Chief via a post on Truth Social, prompting concerns about whether any government data can be trusted going forward.

      A new Executive Order announced another round of tariffs on dozens of countries, prompting stock market drops and companies announcing price hikes, including Proctor and Gamble’s 25% raise on diapers, soap, detergent, toothpaste, and more.
    4. Administration launches new health tracking program using private data. Officials are asking Americans to share their private medical and personal health data to be incorporated into a new government tracking system that officials say will “broaden access to health records” and “monitor wellness.”

      More than 60 Big Tech and Healthcare companies, including Google, Apple, Amazon, CVS, United and others have agreed to share data. Medicaid and Medicare data will also be included, on an “opt-in” basis for now.

      This is concerning to all data privacy advocates, especially in the hands of an administration that has openly embraced eugenic policy.
    5. Good news? Senate Appropriations Committee pushes back for 2026. This week, the bipartisan Senate Committee on Appropriations released their Fiscal Year 2026 bill, pushing back on Trump’s Budget, including:

      Provides $116.6 billion increase in discretionary funding for HHS

      $48.7 billion increase for NIH and rejection of the 15% indirect cost cap

      $85 million increase for Childcare Development Block Grant and Head Start. Rejects cuts to SAMHSA programs for substance abuse and mental health programs

      It remains to be seen if the Senate at large will accept the committee’s proposal.

      Action items:
      Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.
      Hit the streets if you are able. It’s past due.

      Protect your neighbors. Warn and record in the presence of ICE. Push your local officials not to collaborate.

      Donate to your local food pantry, library, clinics, cash bail funds, or other mutual aid if you can. Or volunteer your time.

      Encourage your Senator to support the Appropriations Committee’s proposals to push back on budget cuts.

      Make sure you’re up to date on your vaccines. Ditch the wearable tech when possible.

      Consider running for local office or getting involved to support a local candidate through organizing or phone banking–especially progressive primary challengers.

      Think about ways to spread information offline. Make flyers and stickers. Make art.

  • Week 25 Updates

    1. FEMA ends door to door assistance, leaving elderly and disabled stranded. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been a target of the Trump administration, with DOGE cutting 20% of its employees and attempting to freeze funds, and Trump repeatedly pushing for disaster response to be a state-level problem.

    Experts say a diminished FEMA and National Weather Service made warning and rescue response times slower, leading to more deaths in disasters like the recent Texas floods, which killed over 120.

    Due to cuts, FEMA has now stopped door-to-door work in disaster zones, focusing instead on shelters only. However, this potentially leaves the elderly, disabled, and those without transportation stranded.

    2. Disabled veteran and US Citizen George Reddis detained by ICE, now missing. The 25 year old disabled US Army veteran was working as a security guard on a farm in Camarillo, CA. (video contains auto-captions)Though he is a US citizen, he was taken by ICE.

    His family saw news footage of the raid in which agents broke his truck window, pepper sprayed him, pulled him from the vehicle and threw him to the ground before arresting him.

    Family haven’t heard from him since the kidnapping, and can’t find where he is being detained. In addition to contacting law enforcement, they are seeking any tips from the public who may have seen where he was taken.

    He’s not the first US citizen kidnapped by ICE, and he won’t be the last.

    3. Concern for disabled immigrant detainees in the face of NQRP, oversight cuts. Funding for the National Qualified Representation program (NQRP), which provides legal aid for immigrants with cognitive disabilities or mental illness was cut in April. Now, as ICE ups indiscriminate arrests, more disabled people are caught in raids with no recourse.

    This comes as Homeland Security has gutted other oversight mechanisms, including the Office of Civil Rights and Civil liberties and the ombudsman within the department.

    Deaths and reports of injury, assault and neglect within ICE facilities have surged in recent weeks.

    More than half of ICE detainees have committed no crimes. Less than 10% have ever been convicted of a violent offense.

    4. SCOTUS ruling paves the way for more governmental restructuring and layoffs. SCOTUS released a ruling related to the layoffs (RIFs) of multiple agencies, paving the way for more authoritarian governance.

    While SCOTUS didn’t comment on the legality of the layoffs specifically, they allowed for restructuring and consolidation of certain powers by the executive branch, which previously required Congressional approval.

    The ruling suggests RIF legality can be decided by lower courts, though it’s unclear how this will mesh with the previous ruling that lower courts can’t issue national injunctions, (except in class-actions).

    This ruling doesn’t affect the Dept. of Ed. which is a separate case currently waiting on the emergency docket.

    5. State Dept lays off 1300+ people. The move comes days after SCOTUS’s previously stated ruling, about the consolidation of power within the executive branch.

    Experts warn that removing diplomatic expertise at a tense time in international relations can have dangerous national security consequences.

    In general, the shrinking of the Department of State’s civil and diplomatic service consolidates power under fewer people, and party loyalists.

    The entire DOS accommodations team was among the layoffs.

    6. HHS blocks access to key services for undocumented immigrants. The Department of Health and Human Services recently reclassified a series of public programs in keeping with Trump’s February Executive Order, an effort to make sure that undocumented immigrants or their families cannot access social services.

    These programs include Community Behavioral Health Clinics and Mental Health Services grants, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorder Treatment, the Educational and Training Voucher Program, Family Planning programs, Kinship Guardianship Programming, Transition from Homelessness program, and more.
    It also includes Head Start –which provides early education, health screenings, and food–to young children.

    7. Most people affected by Medicaid cuts don’t know it’s coming. Trump previously said his budget bill wouldn’t cut Medicaid, but deep cuts were passed last week. They don’t go into effect until 2026, and due to local naming conventions, many people don’t even know they will be at risk.
    Here is what Medicaid is called in each state, listed alphabetically by state.

    8. Action items: Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.

    Hit the streets if you are able. It’s past due.

    Protect your neighbors. Warn and record in the presence of ICE. Push your local officials not to collaborate.

    Boycott businesses supporting these policies. Donate to your local food pantry, library, clinics, cash bail funds, or other mutual aid if you can. Or volunteer your time.

    Join Project Mail Storm by writing and sending paper letters to government. More info on our site.

    Make sure you’re up to date on your vaccines. Ditch the wearable tech.

    Consider running for local office or getting involved to support a local candidate through organizing or phone banking–especially progressive primary challengers.

    Think about ways to spread information offline. Make flyers and stickers. Make art.

  • Week 23 Updates

    SCOTUS Decision Day:
    ❌ Limited power of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions, consolidating power under executive branch (limits ability to stop Trump EOs, etc.) Only SCOTUS or class-action suits remain as judicial checks.

    ❌ Opened door to unconstitutional revoking of birthright citizenship. Removal of birthright citizenship in Germany is widely recognized by historians as the country’s transition from democracy to dictatorship in the 1930s.

    ❌ States can restrict Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood.

    ❌Parents can opt their students out of “exposure” to LGBTQ+ books in public school due to “religious burden” opening door for sweeping book and curriculum bans.

    ❌No DoEd decision. Employees continue to be paid but are not allowed to work.

    ✅ Protected the provision of Obamacare/ACA that keeps preventative care covered by insurance companies at no cost to patients. This includes things like wellness checkups, HIV testing and PrEP, blood pressure medication and other maintenance medications and tests.

    ✅ Upheld the FCC’s Universal Service Fund. The money supports the expansion of telephone and broadband service, especially in rural areas. It also subsidizes internet access at schools, libraries and low-income households.

    2. Senate moves closer to vote on budget bill; McConnell Says of People Losing Medicaid “They’ll Get Over it”. The Senate continues to rework the “big beautiful” budget bill that will gut Medicaid, SNAP and other services to provide tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. They are expected to vote soon.

    A provision preventing Medicaid from paying for trans folks’ healthcare was removed, (good news, though it can still be added back in on the floor).

    Wheelchair-using protesters were again arrested at the capitol protesting Medicaid cuts.

    McConnell urged his colleagues to go through with the vote, acknowledging that constituents were calling in worried about Medicaid, but that “they’ll get over it.”

    3. Beyond Medicaid Patients: Everyone’s Care at Risk Under New Budget. The Center for American Progress estimates the proposed budget bill will increase cost of health insurance for everyone, including those who buy plans on the marketplace or through work. Depending on family size and age, costs could increase from about $1000 to $15,000 annually.

    Since 49% of American children are on Medicaid, Medicaid funds large swaths of pediatric hospitals. Medicaid cuts mean less money and resources for children’s hospitals, and fewer beds for all (including those with private insurance).

    Medicaid also pays for some related services at public schools like Physical, Occupational, and Speech Therapy. These cuts in addition to DoEd cuts will decimate already underfunded special education programming.

    4. RFK’s new Antivaxx Committee Meets; AAP says they’ll Ignore any changes: The CDC’s vaccine advisory committee, recently repopulated by antivaxxers and COVID-deniers, has begun meeting to plan new recommendations for vaccine schedules and availability. This is important because it will affect whether offices and pharmacies receive, and insurance companies will cover, vaccines even if people ask for them.

    The American Association of Pediatrics released a statement that they will continue to recommend the evidence-based childhood vaccine schedule independent of any of RFK’s new recommendations. Advocates hope the AAP’s stance will pressure insurance companies into continuing vaccine coverage.

    5. Deaf Man in ICE Prison for Over 80 Days without due process, interpreter: Family of a Deaf Mongolian man say he has been held in an ICE detention center for over 80 days without access to due process, or anyone who knows Mongolian Sign Language.

    The man, who committed no crime, had entered the country and immediately turned himself in to Border Patrol so he could ask for asylum. He brought with him a written letter detailing the reasons why he feared for his life and return to Mongolia, but agents refused to look at it.

    He was denied the “credible fear screening” used to determine whether one has a case for asylum, and all other due process procedures.

    6. 911 Calls from ICE Detention flood in, but many are ignored.
    A report from WIRED analyzed the content of hundreds of calls from inside ICE centers from both workers and prisoners detailing a variety of horrors, including sexual assault, medical neglect, pregnancy complications, mental health crises, and deaths by suicide.

    People previously detained in ICE centers have spoken of being denied access to medication for chronic health conditions, a situation worsened by overcrowding, understaffing, inadequate staff training and accountability, and a general culture of cruelty surrounding the detentions.

    7. Several states turn over medical data to DHS; RFK proposes more surveillance via wearables. Several states who provide healthcare coverage to noncitizens recently turned over their Medicaid data to the Department of Homeland Security, including California, Washington, Illinois and DC.

    The data surrender is an invasion of privacy and concerning in the hands of RFK’s HHS, who have vowed to create a “registry” of autistic people.

    Advocates are also concerned this will prevent immigrants from seeking healthcare or early intervention services.

    RFK praised health surveillance on Americans, saying he wanted everyone in the country to be using a wearable within four years.

    Action items:
    at to Do: Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.

    Call your Senator and tell them to vote NO on this dangerous budget. Choose 1 or 2 programs important to you–Medicaid, gender-affirming care, SNAP, IDEA, etc.–and mention them by name.

    Calling is also important if you buy your own health insurance or get it through work. This bill affects your premiums and access to hospitals, too.

    Join Project Mail Storm by writing and sending paper letters to representatives and the White House. Each is required to be opened and logged.

    Make sure you’re up to date on your vaccines. Ditch the wearable tech.

    Protect your neighbors.

    Consider how to move toward creative acts of mutual aid, and protest, including offline materials. Make flyers and stickers. Warn (and record) in the presence of ICE. If able march, boycott, donate and/or volunteer with your local food pantry or library.

  • Week 22 Updates

    1. SCOTUS Upholds Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Minors. SCOTUS ruled 6-3 that states can ban trans minors from receiving gender-affirming care. Gender-affirming care can include psychological support, reversible puberty blockers, and hormone replacement therapy. In all but rare cases, surgery is not available to patients under 18. Less than 900 total surgeries on minors were performed in the US over a 3-year-period.

    In addition to being in opposition to scientific consensus and harming the mental and physical well-being of trans kids, the ruling also takes away doctor-parent autonomy in choosing what is in the best medical interest of the minor, opening the door for government control over what kinds of medicine and care everyone can access.

    2. Described and Captioned Media Program Funding Cut. The Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP), previously funded through DoED, was “the only free, national source of accessible educational videos for both deaf and blind, and deafblind students.” Videos with captions, ASL interpretation, and descriptive audio made a variety of educational material available for free for families and teachers.

    Due to DoEd’s funding cuts and the transition to block grant funding, states receiving money with no strings attached can to use it for accessible media…or not.

    The DCMP grant, issued through OSERS, was also a main source of income for the National Association for the Deaf (NAD).

    3. Department of Education Employees in Limbo Awaiting SCOTUS. Thousands of DoED employees await a ruling from SCOTUS’s emergency “shadow docket” process about whether their illegal firings will be overturned.

    Possible outcomes:
    SCOTUS could decide not to take the case; employees return to work.
    SCOTUS takes the case but goes on vacation 1 July, leaving things undecided until at least September.
    SCOTUS issues an official decision in either direction.
    SCOTUS consolidates the DoED case with cases of other federal agencies (unlikely, as DoED case also addresses the legality of Trump’s Executive Order about the department).

    Meanwhile, the administration seeks to continue its backdoor dismantling of federal agencies through OMB without Congressional “interference.”

    4. Department of Energy Opens New Attack on Section 504. Over the past several weeks, the Department of Energy has been working to weaken Section 504, a statute that protects disabled people’s right to enter and be accommodated in any spaces that receive federal funding, including government buildings, public schools, hospitals that accept Medicaid, and more.

    The change seeks to allow various entities to decide whether or not they want to include accessibility and accommodations for disabled people in their updates based on whether they are “efficient.”

    Public comment on this change recently closed, but you can still contact your representatives to voice your concerns about DoE and other attempts to attack 504 and ADA protections.

    5.  Trump’s EPA Considers Bringing Back Asbestos: The Biden Administration had previously banned the final type of asbestos used in the US. The current EPA has now taken that policy “under review.”

    Asbestos is a carcinogen that killed millions of Americans due to a rare and aggressive cancer called mesothelioma, though it has been linked to other cancers of the abdomen, ovaries, and larynx.

    The EPA under Trump has also sought to roll back other protections, like limits on coal emissions and toxic “forever chemicals” in drinking water, even as other parts of the administration tout a goal to make the nation “healthy again.

    6. Hickson vs St. David’s Healthcare Partnership Threatens ADA/504 in Healthcare Settings. Michael Hickson, a 46-year-old disabled Black man died in Texas in June 2020 after contracting Covid and being denied ventilator care and other ICU services. At the time, Texas and 24 other states had policies about rationing care that explicitly discriminated against disabled people. This is one of the things Final Rule updates seek to rectify.

    The case is currently before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, a conservative court. If they rule in favor of the hospital, it would set a precedent that guts disabled people’s ability to file medical facility-related discrimination claims under the ADA or Section 504.

    7. Good News: Federal Judge Rules Some NIH Grant Terminations “Void and Illegal.” On Monday, a Federal Judge ruled in a pair of cases that the administration’s termination of NIH grants was both discriminatory and had “no force or effect.”

    Most of the grants covered in the suits were terminated due to mention of LGBTQ+ populations, either directly or indirectly.

    While the ruling only reinstates grants specifically named in the suits, it opens the door for more organizations to seek reinstatement of funding through the courts.

    Keep pressure on your electeds to let them know you are watching, that the administration complies with the court’s rulings.

    Action Items
    Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.

    Call your Senator and tell them to vote NO on this dangerous budget. Choose 1 or 2 programs important to you–Medicaid, gender-affirming care, SNAP, IDEA, etc.–and mention them by name.

    Join Operation Mail Storm by writing and sending paper letters to representatives and the White House. Each is required to be opened and logged.

    If your state is involved, ask your Attorney General to withdraw from Texas v. Kennedy. If able, donate to organizations like DREDF, ACLU, who are fighting various legal challenges, and ADAPT who routinely put their bodies on the line in activist work.

    Consider how to move toward creative acts of mutual aid, and protest, including offline materials. Make flyers! Call out misinformation. Warn your neighbors (and record) in the presence of ICE. If able march, boycott, donate and/or volunteer with your local food pantry or library.

  • Week 21 Update

    1. Department of Energy leads new attack on Section 504 Over the past several weeks, the Department of Energy has been working to weaken Section 504, a statute that protects disabled people’s right to enter and be accommodated in any spaces that receive federal funding, including government buildings, public schools, hospitals that accept Medicaid, and more.

    The change seeks to allow various entities to decide whether or not they want to include accessibility and accommodations for disabled people based on whether they are “efficient.”
    The language is vague about the breadth of spaces that would be affected or what precedent it would set for 504/ADA enforcement.
    Public comment is open until June 16. Templates are available at the link above.

    2. Hospitals Warn Medicaid Cuts Will Devastate Rural Facilities Republicans continue to work on a budget bill that seeks to cut $785 billion from Medicaid programs across the next decade.
    Rural doctors and hospitals, especially in GOP-leaning populations in the middle of the country, will be disproportionally affected, as those populations tend to rely more heavily on Medicaid programs.

    This, alongside recent private equity takeovers of hospitals to flip them for profit, is creating healthcare deserts, where people may face extremely long wait times and/or travel for hours to reach emergency care.

    3. RFK Jr. Dismisses Entire Sitting Panel of CDC Vaccine Panel
    RFK Jr. dismissed the entirety of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, which previously had 17 members.

    Later in the week he announced 8 people to serve as their replacements. At least two have been very vocal against COVID mitigation measures, like masking, as well as vaccines.
    It is another of RFK’s many attacks on vaccine science since taking power at HHS, coinciding with the large sums of money he receives from antivax lobbyists.

    Healthcare providers and advocates are concerned that changes to vaccine recommendations will affect access, especially since health insurance companies use the panels to make decisions on what they will pay for.

    4. Antivax and Ableist Approaches to Autism Allow Conspiracy Cures to Gain Traction, Poison Children. The platforming of vaccine and autism-focused misinformation, and the removal of some misinformation safeguards by Google/YouTube, has led to an uptick in dangerous health conspiracies and grifts.

    One such group is the “bleach community” who attempts to “cure” autistic children by forcing them to ingest bleach.

    Poisoning children with bleach doesn’t make them less autistic. However, it can cause seizures, internal chemical burns, vomiting blood, and death. Platforming and both sides-ing nonscience has consequences.

    5. ASHA Moves to End DEI and Cultural Competency Certification Standards ASHA announced this week that they seek to strike language like “cultural humility; diversity, equity and inclusion; culturally and linguistically diverse; cultural responsiveness; equity in care”

    They claim funding concerns due to federal mandates, but they are privately funded by member dues

    ASHA is already a contentious organization. For SLPs and Audiologists, forgoing a supposedly “voluntary” membership can affect licensure in some states. Patients have been harmed by a long history of ableism, including shutting out D/HH and signing professionals, and indecision on dXs like CAPD leaving patients without care (due to no billable insurance codes)

    6. Good News: SCOTUS Ruling Makes ADA Complaints Easier in School Settings The unanimous ruling in AJT vs. Osseo Area Schools reifies the ADA is enforceable in public schools, and that students and families do not have to prove “bad faith” or “gross negligence” in order to file a complaint.

    Instead, schools will be held to the same legal standard as in other ADA-related cases: “deliberate indifference.” This is a big win for disability rights advocacy, especially in a time when legal oversight for IDEA, the law governing special education, is nearly eradicated by DoEd layoffs.

    DOJ oversight will be critical for enforcement of this new ruling, concerning as that department has already sought to weaken ADA guidance in recent weeks.

    7. Good News: Florida will Teach Disability History in K-12 Schools A new law in Florida mandates that the first two weeks in October will include curriculum on disability awareness and history.

    How the law will be implemented and the curriculum developed are still in their early stages.

    Some FL advocates have expressed concerns about the vague language of the law, as well as the way it siloes studies of specific disabilities into different grade levels; however, most generally agree it is a good first step in a state that is often hostile toward diversifying curricula.

    8. Hickson vs. St David’s Healthcare Partnership threatens ADA/504 in healthcare settings     Michael Hickson, a 46-year-old disabled Black man died in Texas in June 2020 after contracting Covid and being denied ventilator care and other ICU services. At the time, Texas and 24 other states had policies about rationing care that explicitly discriminated against disabled people. This is one of the things Final Rule updates seek to rectify.

    The case is currently before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, a conservative court. If they rule in favor of the hospital, it would set a precedent that guts disabled people’s ability to file medical facility-related discrimination claims under the ADA or Section 504.

    Action Items:
    Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.

    Call your Senator and tell them to vote NO on this dangerous budget. Choose 1 or 2 programs important to you–Medicaid, gender-affirming care, SNAP, IDEA, etc.–and mention them by name.

    Leave a comment with the Dept. Of Energy speaking against their proposed changes to 504 enforcement. Templates available here.

    If your state is involved, ask your Attorney General to withdraw from Texas v. Kennedy. If able, donate to organizations like DREDF, ACLU, and NAD who are fighting various legal challenges, and ADAPT who routinely put their bodies on the line in activist work.

    Consider how to move toward creative acts of mutual aid, and protest, including offline materials. Make flyers! Call out misinformation. Warn your neighbors in the presence of ICE. If able march, boycott, donate and/or volunteer with your local food pantry or library.

  • Week 19 Updates

    1. The Dept of Education’s proposed 2026 budget released. The proposed DoEd budget was released this week, confirming a shift from IDEA formula grants (calculated by state need, with specific requirements to be used for special ed.) to block grant format. States would no longer be required to use the money for special ed.

      Proposed program cuts for 2026: Preschool grants, State Personnel Development, Technical Assistance teams, SpEd. Personnel Preparation Program, Parent Information Centers, Educational Technology Media and Materials program, Client Assistant State Grants, several training and Supported Employment state grant programs, the Protection and Advocacy of Individual Rights, Adult Education State grants. These are only the special ed programs cut. Many more have also been defunded.

      Bright spots: Funding for the Special Olympics, as well as the American Printing House for the Blind, NTID, Gallaudet University, Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind, and Independent Living Services for Older Blind Individuals has been slated at the same rate for 2026. This is good news, and a departure from stated plans in Project 2025, which proposed defunding these programs.

      The budget also proposes slight increases in funding to both the overall special education and Vocational Rehabilitation budgets. However, these increases will not be enough to offset the programs in and outside of special ed. departments that have been defunded.

      The full DoED 2026 budget proposal is available here.
    2. HHS Budget Proposal Released: The proposed HHS budget continues ahead with plans for deep cuts across the department, especially in the NIH, CDC and Administration for Children Families and Communities. HHS department cuts sought total over $32 billion.

      Specific to the disability community, the ACL’s University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Chronic Disease Self-Management Education, Limb Loss and Paralysis Resource Centers, Voting Access for People with Disabilities, and the White House Conference on Aging are all proposed cuts.

      Bright spots: The new proposal walks back some of the proposed Administration for Community Living (ACL) eliminations. These programs remain funded in the current proposal: Councils on Developmental Disabilities, Protection and Advocacy systems, the Long-term care ombudsman program, National Institute on Disability Independent Living and Rehabilitative Research (NIDILRR), Lifespan Respite Care Program, and State Health Insurance Program (SHIP), among others.

      Instead of splitting the ACL’s programs across three different agencies as originally be proposed, the programs will move to the Administration for Children, Families and Communities. (This is good news, but remember deep budget cuts to the ACFC are also proposed)

      The Dept of Health and Human Services proposed 2026 budget is available in full here.
    3. MAHA Commission Report Cites Sources that Don’t exist: Last week, the commission released a report declaring a childhood “chronic disease crisis” in the US, identifying poor diet, chemicals, chronic stress, lack of physical activity, and “overmedicalization” as driving causes. The report also questioned vaccine safety.

      In the days since, it’s become clear that many of the sources cited do not exist.

      In addition to making the Commission’s work untrustworthy due to lack of peer-reviewed evidence, fake sources are hallmark of AI chatbots like ChatGPT, who “hallucinate” sources by putting words and names together that sound true, but aren’t real.
    4. CDC Defies RFK, Keeping covid vaccinations on childhood schedule: Last week, The FDA announced a plan to limit access to COVID boosters, restricting them to people over 65 or with underlying health conditions only. RFK also asked specifically that covid vaccines be left off the childhood vaccine schedule. Considering RFK Jr’s profitable ties to antivax organizations, many see this as the first step in limiting overall access to vaccines.

      This week, the CDC went against RFK’s statement, releasing its vaccine schedule including recommendations for covid vaccination for all children.
    5. Deaf schools under threat as state budgets compensate for DoEd cuts: Bracing for a federal budget that eliminates nearly $300 billion in education funding, some states are taking advantage of their expected freedom under the block grant system and cutting deaf school budgets.

      The New Jersey School for the Deaf (MKSD) saw their residential program completely removed from the governor’s proposed 2026 budget.

      Indiana School for the Deaf and California School for the Deaf–Fremont are also experiencing budgetary issues. Indiana seeks to reallocate money previously for ISD toward general public education, while CSD Fremont struggles to maintain appropriate funding for cost-of-living in a gentrified Silicon Valley area.
    6. NAD Sues White House to return ASL interpreters to press briefings: In keeping with eugenic rhetoric, various GOP influencers have shown particular hostility toward ASL interpreters in recent months, ever since Charlie Kirk and Chris Rufo attacked their existence at emergency briefings for the LA Fires, with Rufo calling them “wild human gesticulators”.

      Upon taking office, the Trump administration quickly removed the WH accessibility page and all ASL content, and fired the WH ASL interpreter, as part of other “anti-DEIA” initiatives.

      The NAD is now suing for the return of an interpreter to WH press briefings. The organization filed and won a similar suit during Trump 1.0, in order to access the emergency covid-related briefings.
    7. Musk out, Project 2025 Writer up: Elon Musk made an exit from the White House this week after a tanking Tesla stock, reports of heavy illegal drug use, and economic models showing that tens of thousands of people, most of them children, have been killed by his pet project–the illegal closure of USAID. Most of the deaths have resulted from malnutrition and lack of oral-rehydration medication for patients with diarrhea, two program areas hit quickest by the loss of funds.

      Russel Vought, a self-proclaimed “Christian Nationalist” and head writer for Project 2025, is poised to take over Musk’s work. It’s likely that he’ll be less flashy, and more effective, than Elon in the position.
    8. Hickson v. St. David’s Healthcare Partnership poses new threat to ADA/504: Michael Hickson, a 46-year-old disabled Black man died in Texas in June 2020 after contracting Covid and being denied ventilator care and other ICU services. At the time, Texas and 24 other states had policies about rationing care that explicitly discriminated against disabled people. This is one of the things Final Rule updates seek to rectify.

      The case is currently before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, a conservative court. If they rule in favor of the hospital, it would set a precedent that guts disabled people’s ability to file medical facility-related discrimination claims under the ADA or Section 504.

      Action items:
      Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.

      Call your Senator and tell them to vote NO on this dangerous budget. Choose 1 or 2 programs important to you–Medicaid, gender-affirming care, SNAP, IDEA, etc.–and mention them by name.

      Call your state representative and tell them to include deaf schools in their budgets. You can text NJ Governor Phil Murphy at 732-605-5455

      If your state is involved, ask your Attorney General to withdraw from Texas v. Kennedy. If able, donate to organizations like DREDF, ACLU, and NAD who are fighting various legal challenges.

      Contact medical providers requesting they do not share yours or your child’s autism diagnosis or records with the government registry. Letter template available here.

      Consider how to move toward creative acts of mutual aid, and protest, including offline materials. Make flyers! Call out misinformation. Warn your neighbors in the presence of ICE. If able march, boycott, donate and/or volunteer with your local food pantry or library.

  • Week 18 Updates

    Week 18 Updates

    1. House passes budget bill containing deep cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, Dept. of Ed. 215 Republican Representatives voted for Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” advancing plans to cut Medicaid/care, SNAP, HUD and education funding in order to up DHS spending and extend tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy.

      Medicaid: adds work requirements, increases “eligibility checks,” and cuts funds.

      SNAP: Raises age so recipients up to 64 must meet work requirements, cuts funds.

      DoED: cuts funds and shifts them to block grant format. Exact appropriations numbers for DoEd and others are not expected to be available until July (per internal sources).

      The bill heads to the Senate, where it needs 51 votes to pass. Some GOP Senators have said they won’t vote for Medicaid cuts, while others seek even deeper cuts. A failed vote will send the bill back to the House.
    2. Budget bans gender-affirming healthcare for people on Medicaid. As part of the budget bill, the House added a provision banning gender-affirming care for those using Medicaid programs. Originally the ban had only been for minors, but has now been extended to all ages.

      The ban also extends to plans sold on the marketplace under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This is likely to face legal challenges as many states have already prohibited plans from refusing care to trans people.

      Studies estimate that about 1 in 4 trans people rely on Medicaid coverage. Nearly half of trans people also have a disability(1 , 2).
    3. Dept. of Ed updates: On Thursday, a MA judge blocked Trump’s attempt to close DoED, including the executive order to McMahon to facilitate the department’s closure, and the mass firings conducted in March.

      The judge ordered that those employees be reinstated, and underscored that closing DoEd would require an act of Congress. The administration has already filed an appeal.

      This is good news, but the budget bill still contains massive funding cuts, shifting remaining dollars to voucher programs and block grants that have no enforcement mechanisms. States can use funds previously for specific programs like IDEA for whatever they want, leaving students with IEP/504s at the whim of districts. If IEPS are not followed, its unknown who, if anyone, families can turn to for support.
    4. MAHA commission report skews focus, targets vaccines. RFK Jr’s MAHA commission released a report on what it called the childhood “chronic disease crisis” in the US, identifying poor diet, environmental chemicals, chronic stress, lack of physical activity, and “overmedicalization” as driving causes. The report also questions vaccine safety.

      The report does not address socio-economic factors that may contribute to children’s health, like poverty, or firearm or motor vehicle related deaths. Injury-related deaths account for 60% of deaths for children under 18.

      The commission is supposed to present a strategy for addressing childhood disease in August. However critics say budget and personnel cuts at HHS undermine the commission’s ability to meaningfully implement a plan, or even track data.
    5. FDA Seeks to restrict access to covid vaccines: The FDA announced a plan to limit access to COVID boosters, reversing previous policy. If implemented, COVID vaccines would be restricted to people over 65 or with underlying health conditions only.

      The FDA said manufacturers of COVID boosters seeking broader distribution to younger people would need to fund and conduct placebo-controlled trials, a lengthy process that would render each version of the vaccine useless given the rate of mutation.

      Considering RFK Jr’s profitable ties to antivax organizations, many see this as the first step in limiting overall access to vaccines.
    6. Texas vs Kennedy updates: Thanks in large part to disabled organizers, Count 3 of the original filing, (formerly Texas v. Becerra) “Section 504 is Unconstitutional” has been withdrawn. This is great news!

      BUT, the lawsuit continues to attack Final Rule, important updates to 504 guidance re: 21st century technology (telehealth, websites), pandemic-era healthcare (ventilator rationing), and protecting disabled people’s rights to live in community instead of being forced into institutions.

      Kennedy issued a “clarification” weeks ago noting mention of gender dysphoria in the preamble is not an enforceable part of the law, so the transphobic framing against Final Rule is now moot.
    7. Hicks vs St David’s Healthcare Partnership poses threat to ADA/504. Michael Hickson, a 46-year-old disabled Black man died in Texas in June 2020 after contracting Covid and being denied ventilator care and other ICU services. At the time, Texas and 24 other states had policies about rationing care that explicitly discriminated against disabled people. This is one of the things Final Rule updates seek to rectify.

      The case is currently before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, a conservative court. If they rule in favor of the hospital, it would set a precedent that guts disabled people’s ability to file medical facility-related discrimination claims under the ADA or Section 504.

      Action:
      Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.

      Call your Senator and tell them to vote NO on this dangerous budget. Choose 1 or 2 programs important to you–Medicaid, gender-affirming care, SNAP, IDEA, etc.–and mention them by name.

      Leave a public comment with DoED saying no to funding cuts and block grants. They are required to read and log them!

      If your state is involved, ask your Attorney General to withdraw from Texas v. Kennedy. If able, donate to organizations like DREDF, ACLU, and NAD who are fighting various legal battles.

      Contact medical providers requesting they do not share yours or your child’s autism diagnosis or records with the government registry. Letter template available here.

      Consider how to move toward creative acts of mutual aid, and protest, including offline materials. Make flyers! Call out misinformation. Warn your neighbors in the presence of ICE. If able march, boycott, donate and/or volunteer with your local food pantry or library.