Disability Rights Watch

Category: Weekly Update

  • 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 27 Update

    1. Executive Order: Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets. Trump signed an executive order this week telling cities to remove unhoused people from the streets as a way to “reduce crime”. While an EO is not a law, it makes it easier for city officials to remove unhoused people and to involuntarily commit them, because it instructs Attorney General Bondi to reverse other federal and state regulations that previously limited this authority.

      The EO is reminiscent of the Ugly Laws, a series of local laws that prohibited unhoused and disabled people from being in public places that were in place across the US from the turn of the 20th century. The last of those laws wasn’t repealed until the 1970s. A SCOTUS decision okaying the forcible sterilization of disabled people in state custody has never been overturned.
    2. Department of Education releases withheld funds. DoEd had previously been illegally withholding over five billion dollars from K-12 schools. Districts had been expecting the funds on July 1st , and were already depending on them to provide staff and resources for the Fall.

      The funds were largely earmarked for teacher training and before and after school care programs as well as summer programs already in swing. Several states had filed suit to pressure DoEd to release the money.
    3. Deaf Californian kidnapped by ICE. 32-year-old Javier Diaz Santana, a Deaf resident of LA, was detained when an ICE raid came to the car wash where he worked. Though he is a legal resident with a Real ID, agents confiscated his wallet and arrested him anyway.

      Santana is a DACA recipient who came to the US with his family when he was five years old. While in detention, Santana was denied an interpreter and given materials to read and sign in Spanish, a language he doesn’t know. DHS denies these claims and says they provided him with a “communication board.”

      Santana is just another of many disabled people kidnapped by ICE and held in squalid conditions without accommodations or information.
    4. Department of Education watchdog fired. Earlier in the year the Trump administration fired 17 Inspectors General. This month, the administration removed the Inspector in charge of serving as watchdog for the Department of Education.

      The watchdog was demoted and replaced for investigating the illegal withholding of education funds that began on July 1st. Removing oversight that asks questions or critiques (illegal) activity to replace them with party loyalists is a concerning move common to authoritarian governments.
    5. Local: Tennessee school district will no longer accept doctors’ notes for absences. One Tennessee school district has changed their policy for the new school year and will no longer allow excused absences, even with a doctor’s note.

      The district instructs families to send their children to school sick. If the nurse deems them ill enough to go home, they will be marked as “tardy.” Students who miss more than eight days of school per year will be sent to juvenile court.

      This eugenic policy is obviously discriminatory toward disabled and chronically ill children, both those who may be absent from school more than 8 days, and those while will suffer catching increased sickness from ill peers. Disabled and immunocompromised teachers are also at risk. The district has said exceptions may be made for “verified chronic conditions” but did not elaborate.

      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.

      Contact your local officials and congresspeople and ask them to protect election integrity.

      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 26 Update

    1. SCOTUS rules on Dept of Ed. case, approving mass layoffs and paving the way for the dismantling of the department. SCOTUS ruled that DoEd’s mass layoffs (or RIFs)–attempted in March but temporarily stopped by a lower court–are allowed to move forward.

      This includes many positions that are required to be filled by law, ex: IDEA, The Education of the Deaf Act. However, SCOTUS has allowed the administration to ignore the law, and opened the door for further layoffs. Only Congress can legally dismantle a department, but the administration is already ignoring the law, and if no one works there, DoEd will not function.

      This is in conjunction with the illegal withholding of previously approved funds from July 1, and the trashing of several thousand civil rights complaints. DoEd employees are now scheduled to leave Aug 1.
    2. George Retes found and released; deaf Mongolian man remains in ICE detention. Retes, a 25 year old disabled US Army veteran was working as a security guard on a farm in Camarillo, CA. Though he is a US citizen, he was kidnapped from his car by ICE, and held for several days.

      A deaf Mongolian man who was attempting to seek asylum following legal protocol continues to be detained for over four months, without due process or a sign language interpreter. ICE agents reportedly attempted to use Google Translate with him, resulting in severe miscommunications on basic facts.

      These disabled men are just two of many kidnapped by ICE and held in squalid conditions without accommodations or information.
    3. Department of Labor to allow subminimum wage to continue. A Department of Labor statute giving businesses “sheltered workshop certifications” has long been a loophole for employers of severely disabled people to pay them less than minimum wage. Half the people employed under this statute are paid less than $3.50 an hour.

      Biden’s Department of Labor had started to repeal the rule, but the Trump administration has rolled back that request.

      The fight for wage equality must include disabled people, who face massive inequities with respect to sheltered workshops, general employment discrimination, disproportionate benefits compared to cost of living and inflation, and loss of benefits when getting married.
    4. Department of Labor to end hiring goal for disabled federal contractors. In 2013, the Obama DoL implemented a rule with a goal of at least employing disabled federal contractors at a rate of at least 7%.

      This was to comply with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, and help combat high rates of unemployment discrimination for disabled people. The program long been considered a successful step in improving wage and employment gaps for disabled workers. About 25% of people in the US have some type of disability, so even 7% is far below population representation.

      The Trump DoL will now repeal the rule, and stop tracking any data on disability within federal contracting.
    5. Insurance costs spike under new GOP budget. The GOP budget passed on July 4th, teeing up Medicaid and Medicare cuts that will harm the quality of life for many disabled people, and are expected to kill over 51,000 people annually from otherwise preventable deaths.

      Those who buy private insurance on the ACA marketplace will also be affected. Biden had previously provided subsidies to help with high payments, but they are now expiring. More than a quarter of providers are planning a rate hike of 20% or more.

      The new law also makes it harder to enroll in health insurance on the marketplace by shortening enrollment window and denying enrollment for those with outstanding balances.
    6. Dept. of Justice makes concerning move toward English-only services and materials. The memo says the department will “lead a coordinated effort to minimize non-essential multilingual services, redirect resources toward English-language education and assimilation, and ensure compliance with legal obligations through targeted measures where necessary.”

      This is a concern for all English language learners. Disabled people and/or signed languages are neither explicitly mentioned or excluded, (except citing case law that said offering disability/ss applications in English only is not a legal violation). It is unclear but concerning how this will impact deaf and hard-of-hearing people and others who use signed languages to communicate.
    7. They’re messing with the elections. The Department of Justice is making an unprecedented demand for sensitive election data. The request include access to voter rolls and in some cases “all records.” This is an abnormal request and it is unclear what the DOJ wants that data for. The requests went mainly to swing states, but others were included, too.

      Meanwhile, Texas is seeking to illegally redistrict to add five congressional seats in projected “red” areas. This is illegal, as new maps are not due to be drawn until 2031.

      Contact your local officials and demand they protect election integrity in your state. Folks both in and outside of Texas can also contact congress to stop the illegal redistricting. Templates are available for residents of any state to use.
    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.

      Contact your local officials and congresspeople and ask them to protect election integrity. (See above templates).

      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 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 20 Updates

    1. WH loses appeal on Dept of Ed layoffs: A federal district court had previously barred the Department of Education from going through with the layoffs of about half its staff.

    Secretary of the department former WWE exec Linda McMahon testified before Congress that they had done no studies or analysis about how the layoffs would affect students, teachers, or educational infrastructure overall before acting.

    The administration appealed to the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston to lift the injunction, but the appeal was rejected. They can now choose to comply or take the matter before the Supreme Court. The latter would be a lengthy process likely hobbling many programs in the meantime, especially in special education.

    2. UPenn-Yale research estimates 51,000 deaths annually from proposed Medicaid/ACA cuts: The research estimated the passage of Trump’s “big beautiful bill” would result in the following deaths:

    • Ending Medicare Savings Program for subsidized prescriptions– 18,200 annual deaths
    • Removal of Medicaid/care Services nursing home staffing rules–13,000 annual deaths
    • 7.7 million people losing coverage via Medicaid and ACA–11,300 deaths
    • Failure to extend Affordable Care Act enhanced tax credits–8,811 deaths

    3. Group of disabled activists, clergy arrested at capitol protesting Medicaid cuts: A group of activists made up of clergy and disabled organizers were arrested in at the Capitol on Tuesday after protesting Medicaid cuts. A group of 26 disabled protesters was previously arrested in May for disrupting hearings.

    An estimated 14 million people would lose coverage under the proposed cuts. For disabled people, Medicaid provides access to healthcare and the ability to live independently or in-community, rather than institutions and nursing homes.

    4. Senator Joni Ernst triples down on eugenic “jokes” about Medicaid: In response to a comment at a town hall from a constituent who was concerned that people will die from proposed Medicaid and SNAP cuts, Senator Ernst of Iowa smirked and said, “well, we’re all going to die.”

    She later made a joke apology video in a cemetery, gaslighting concerned voters by reminding them that technically all humans are mortal, then somewhat inexplicably compared valuing human life to belief in the tooth fairy, followed by a suggestion that people to convert to Christianity.

    Ernst was later seen on Twitter saying that instead of “whining” about Medicaid, folks should “get a multivitamin and a job.”

    5. US Government begins building database on all US residents: Trump signed an order making the combining of data across agencies possible in March,; the NYT reported this week that the tech company Palantir’s AI mechanisms are working on the task.

    Palantir is owned by billionaire Peter Thiel, who in 2009 called women’s right to vote “a blow to democracy,” and in 2023 said, “I no longer believe democracy and freedom are compatible.” He was a also major donor to JD Vance.

    A database compiling detailed files on civilians has disturbing implications for all people, especially activists, immigrants, and disabled people already targeted by RFK’s tracking attempts.

    6. Schools for the deaf and disabled under threat as states brace for proposed 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 special education budgets.

    Internal sources at deaf schools in NJ, Delaware, Indiana and California have warned of staff and budget cuts for the coming year.

    Missouri’s state budget also proposed the closure of 12 schools for disabled children with high support needs.

    Lack of DoED oversight and block grant distribution allows states to take money from special ed with no consequences.

    7. Hickson 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 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 rep. and tell them to include schools for deaf and disabled children in their budgets, especially if you live in CA, DE, NJ, MO, or IN.
    Call your House rep. and tell them to take a stand on government information overreach with Palantir’s project and other “registry” proposals.

    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.

    Bonus Action:

    The Department of Energy is currently rolling back ADA/504 protections by allowing entities to choose whether or not to provide accommodations based on “efficiency”. As written, it’s unclear what kinds of buildings will be affected, but the vague nature of the rollback is also part of the danger. Check out DREDF’s explainer and templates here.

  • 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.
  • Week 15 Update

    Week 15 Update

    1. White House releases harrowing budget requests. On Friday, the White House released their budget request to Congress. The 46 pg document seeks massive cuts for almost all social and educational programs domestically and internationally, cuts totaling $163 billion.

    Departments of Defense and Homeland Security are two of the handful of that see increased spending in order to better fund police militarization and the deportation of immigrants and kidnapping of US citizens by ICE.

    This week’s post will examine some key budget asks affecting the disability community. This is not a complete list, but a link to the full document is available here. Items 1-4 on this post are pulled directly from that spreadsheet. It’s important to note that these are *nonbinding requests* from the President. It will be up to Congress to write and pass specific legislation. Call them.

    2. WH Budget Requests: Dept. of Education
    $60 million increase in funding for charter schools

    $4.5 billion in cuts for K-12 education / Title I programming for underfunded schools

    $49 million in cuts for DoED’s Office of Civil Rights

    A vague category of “Special Education” is listed to “remain at 2025 levels. it mentions IDEA by name, but it’s unclear to what extent programs and sub-departments will be included. The explanation also appears to employ Project 2025’s block grant distribution, meaning it’s suggested the money be used for special ed, but with limited oversight.

    Many other DoED programs receive explicit cuts. There is no mention of special institutions, like Gallaudet, NTID, Printing House for the Blind, etc. in the document.

    3. WH Budget Request, HHS
    $500 million increase to “MAHA” a slush fund for RFK Jr’s antivax and “overreliance on medication” initiatives

    $4 billion in cuts to LIHEAP the program that provides heat and AC assistance for low-income families.

    $1.9 billion in cuts for services for refugee and unaccompanied minors

    $315 million cuts to Preschool Development Grants

    $1.7 billion cuts to HRSA, $3. 5 billion cuts to the CDC
    $17.9 billion cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

    $1 billion cuts to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

    $180 million in cuts to STI and teen pregnancy prevention programs

    $674 billion in cuts to Medicaid and Medicare Service

    4. WH Budget Request, HUD:
    $26 billion cut from rental assistance state block grants, money sent to states to support rental housing for the elderly, disabled, and those aging out of foster care.

    $479 million in cuts from Native American and Hawaiian housing block grants

    $532 million cut from Homeless Assistance Program

    $296 million cut from Surplus Lead Hazard Reduction and Healthy Homes Funding

    Additional cuts to other self-sufficiency, fair housing, and community grant programs

    5. WH Budget Requests, our liberation is intertwined: Deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Parks System, the Department of the Interior (including significant reductions in funding for Native American reservation-based social services and education), aid-based programming within the DHS, FEMA and other disaster-relief funding, Department of Labor job skills programs, funding for libraries, HBCUs, PBS and NPR, programs to combat misinformation, and more have all been explicitly named and targeted for cuts at the President’s request.
    These cuts will hurt everyone, and particularly those living at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities.

    7. Gallaudet suspends enrollment of several majors as budget cuts loom. A list from Provost Rashid said admissions to the following programs will be suspended:
    Secondary Education programs, including the BA and MA in Secondary Education in Biology, Chemistry, English, General Sciences, Mathematics, and Social Studies, Undergraduate Teacher Preparation, Programs in Early Childhood and Elementary Education

    The announcement comes as deaf studies and education programs shutter at universities across the country.

    GU leadership continues to be nontransparent about the future of the university without its DoED Liaison, who previously disbursed funding and advocated on behalf of deaf education. The University has gone so far as to say that the liaison has been reinstated, which is untrue.

    The only liberal arts university for the deaf in the world faces an uncertain future without mention in Trump’s budget request (yes, that would be illegal).

    8. Texas v Beccera lawsuit continues
    Despite recent “clarifications” from HHS about the how mention of gender dysphoria in Final Rule’s preamble is not legally binding, involved parties have not revoked their original filing, which explicitly asks for 504 to be declared unconstitutional (p 37-42).

    504 protects disabled people’s rights in all spaces that receive federal funding, and would have major implications in conjunction with rescinding of ADA guidance, the uncertain future of DoEd, and a separate suit going before SCOTUS next week.

    A stay has been issued, and parties are now required to update every other month, with the next due June 21st.

    9. RFK makes wild vaccine claims on air as HHS floats dangerous clinical trials.
    Speaking live on News Nation Wednesday, RFK Jr. repeatedly claimed the MMR vaccine contains “aborted fetus debris.”

    IT SUPER DOESN’T! The MMR vaccine, like most vaccines, was cultured within (sterile) fetal cells, one of two lines from the 1960s. It does not contain fetal cells or human DNA because the virus kills the cell. The vaccine virus is also purified before it is made into a replicable vaccine.

    HHS also said they want to conduct placebo trials on existing vaccines, raising ethical concerns with public health experts. Not giving available effective and thoroughly-tested vaccines to trial participants and infecting them with, and allowing them to die from preventable disease is cruel, and in violation of the Hippocratic Oath.

    10. HHS releases harmful anti-trans report, highlights willingness to distribute misinformation. On Thursday, HHS released a “report” seeking to disparage gender-affirming care for trans youth, care that is already known to be safe and effective as backed by decades of peer-reviewed research.

    The report’s authors are anonymous, and it is not peer-reviewed. No trans people are consulted in the report, though anti-trans extremists are cited.

    Every human deserves access to healthcare. The disability community stands with trans youth.

    Multiple studies also estimate that 27-50% of trans people are disabled, too. (1, 2, 3)

    The report also demonstrates a willingness to publish blatant disinformation to support the administration’s various eugenic vendettas. This won’t be the last.

    Take Action:

    What to do: Share this info. Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.

    Call your Representative and tell them not to accept the White House’s requested budget cuts. Choose 1 or 2 programs important to you personally and mention them by name when you call.

    Call your Senator and tell them to take meaningful action against illegal deportations and ideological-based arrests.

    Contact the Gallaudet Board of Trustees and urge transparency in communication with the community, and action to protect the university.

    If your state is involved, contact your Attorney General and ask them to withdraw from Texas v. Beccera. Tell them you stand in solidarity with disabled people, and trans folks.

    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 14 Update

    Week 14 Update

    1. HHS announces plan to build a registry of autistic people. This week, the HHS announced plans to use private health data, from medical records down to wearable smart tech, to create a government registry of autistic people. The announcement sparked privacy concerns and comparisons to the 1939 registry for disabled children as part of T4, a program for the mass murder of 300K+ disabled people across occupied Europe.

      Several state-level autism databases already exist for research and resource purposes, as do other condition-specific registries; however, participation in those is voluntary.
      Limited reporting Friday stated that due to public outcry, the NIH is walking back registry plans and investing in other unspecified research, but nothing official from RFK yet (as of late Friday, 4/25).

      Update: as of 4/26, reports of an emailed statement from an unnamed HHS official are here. The email states that there will be no “registry” and instead researchers will draw from limited data sets.
    2. Actual autism-related research defunded. In last week’s diatribe against autistic people, RFK Jr. had vowed to find the cause of autism by September. NIH later moved back the timeline. However, other grants for longstanding autism research have been cut, including:

      National Science Foundation grants featuring the words “accessibility” and “inclusion,” like one for the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, which included work by autistic scholars.

      The federal government’s Autism Research Program (ARP) omitted from 2025 appropriations.

      Other NIH grants and programs continue to be delayed and cut as remaining employees parse through unfinished projects after many workers have been laid off.
    3. RFK Jr. expands eugenic hit list, says disabilities are, “bankrupting our nation.” RFK’s quote: “Neurological disorders–ADD, ADHD, speech delay, language delay, tics, Tourette’s syndrome, narcolepsy, ASD ….All these are injuries I never heard of when I was a kid… There was $0 spent in this country treating chronic disease when my uncle was President. Today it’s $1.8 T annually. It’s bankrupting our nation….juvenile diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Crohn’s disease, were just unknown when I was a kid.”

      RFK also said the diagnosis uptick endangers the nation because fewer qualify for military service.

      Most conditions listed were discovered at the turn of the 20th century or before. However, disabled people were often institutionalized or lobotomized, decreasing their visibility, (especially in rich people circles like RFK’s).

      Disabled people “draining society” is a eugenic talking point, and The word “injury” to describe disability and autism is also an antivax dog whistle.

      His press conference was supposed to be about banning synthetic food dyes, which he did not do.
    4. DOGE already has access to sensitive HHS data. While autistic people and allies rightfully sounded the alarm on the invasion of privacy that a national autism registry could bring, DOGE already has access to at least 19 of HHS’s systems, some of which contain sensitive information, and typically require specific specialized training before use.

      Some of the systems are: Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS, CALM), CMS’s Integrated Data Repository Cloud (contains patient info), several grant processing and personnel management systems, the Unaccompanied Alien Children portal, and accounting and payment systems across HHS, NIH, and CDC.
    5. Supreme Court to hear case that could gut ADA/504 protections. Next week, SCOTUS will hear arguments related to the case A.J.T. vs. Osseo Area Schools. The case examines whether a disabled person must prove a party acted, “in bad faith or gross misjudgment” to claim their rights were violated.

      The case, about accommodations for a disabled student, was originally narrow in scope and focused in K-12 ed, but the most recent brief makes clear the intent will be to apply the interpretation to the ADA and Rehabilitation Act more broadly.

      Having to prove malicious intent in order to access basic accommodations will further gut the ADA/504 in an already hostile DOJ oversight. Does this building not have a ramp? Well, as long as they aren’t doing it to be mean! *shrug*…..
    6. Executive Order, “Reinstating Common Sense Discipline in Schools” From the order: “The Federal Government will no longer tolerate known risks to children’s safety and well-being in the classroom that result from the application of school discipline based on discriminatory and unlawful ‘equity’ ideology.”

      The White House seeks to roll back trauma-informed and anti-racist educational practices currently in place to address disparities in the biased application of disciplinary policy (e.g. children of color getting punished more frequently and harshly for the same behavior as white children.)

      The removal of equitable discipline practices will be dangerous for children of color, disabled children, and especially those at the intersection of those identities.
    7. Deaf and Disability Studies programs shutter while Gallaudet begins layoffs.
      Across the country, deaf education TOD programs, and deaf/ disability cultural programs are being shut down. The deaf ed programs have likely lost funding due to cuts at the Dept of Ed’s Office of Special Education, while cultural “area” studies have been targeted by a variety of Trump’s anti-DEIA orders.

      Deaf Education programs cut: University of Minnesota–Duluth, Utah State University. Deaf ed at Columbia University Teacher’s College has also been defunded through the Trump takeover there.

      Deaf Studies: University of Maryland–College Park, University of Montevallo, University of Nebraska, Ithaca College.

      Disability Studies: University of Toledo

      ASL Interpreting Programs: Columbia College–Chicago, University of Texas–Houston

      Gallaudet also announced layoffs on the executive team and comms office, while others took pay cuts. Gallaudet Pres. Cordano continues to downplay growing concerns about the future of the university without its DoED liaison.
    8. Texas v. Becerra lawsuit continues. Despite recent “clarifications” from HHS about the how mention of gender dysphoria in Final Rule’s preamble is not legally binding, involved parties have not revoked their original filing, which explicitly asks for 504 to be declared unconstitutional (p 37-42).
    9. 504 protects disabled people’s rights in all spaces that receive federal funding, and would have major implications in conjunction with rescinding of ADA guidance, the uncertain future of DoEd, and a separate suit going before SCOTUS next week.
    10. A stay has been issued, and parties are now required to update every other month, with the next due June 21st.
    11. The FBI arrests a sitting judge, Attorney General Bondi threatens more. The FBI arrested WI judge Hannah Dugan on charges of obstruction. They say Dugan allowed an immigrant to use a side door typically only for the jury, in order to avoid detainment by ICE.

      US Attorney General Pam Bondi promised that Dugan’s arrest is just the beginning. “We are sending a very strong message today: If you are harboring a fugitive, we don’t care who you are, if you are helping hide one, if you are giving a TdA member guns, anyone who is illegally in this country, we will come after you and we will prosecute you. We will find you.”

      The judge was not giving anyone a gun. The immigrant in question had been at the courthouse due to a misdemeanor.

      The arrest is a marked turn in the disintegration of Constitutional rule, ushering in an era of ideological-based arrests.
    12. Do not comply in advance (good news). Judges issued a series of blows to Trump’s anti-DEIA agenda within the K-12 sector, with two judges blocking, and one postponing the implementation of various anti-equity policies within public school settings, calling them too vague, and unconstitutional.

      The number of school districts and states standing up to the administration on this issue continues to grow, and under forceful pushback, the administration typically folds (see: Harvard). The federal government has never had control over individual states’ or districts’ curriculum choices.
    13. Action: Share this info. Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.

      Call your Representative and continue to make noise about the HHS’s eugenic rhetoric and practices.

      Call your Senator and tell them to take meaningful action against illegal deportations and ideological-based arrests.

      Contact your school board and state’s education officials, and tell them not to comply with baseless anti-DEI directives. Tell your universities you value deaf and disability studies programs!

      If your state is involved, contact your Attorney General and ask them to withdraw from Texas v. Beccera. Tell them you stand in solidarity with disabled people, and trans folks.

      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, donate or volunteer with your local food pantry or library.