- HHS to remove recommendation for infant Hepatitis B vaccine, Trump asks RFK to fast-track a revamp of entire childhood vaccine schedule. The majority of Hepatitis B patients who go on to experience chronic liver disease or liver failure are infants.
While vaccines should still be available for families that want them, these changes will cause confusion, spread misinformation, and give insurance companies the option of whether to pay for them.
They also leave babies too young for the shots and other immunocompromised folks vulnerable as the nation loses its herd immunity and previously eradicated diseases return. - McMahon requests some fired Office of Civil Rights workers return to work at DoEd after seeing overwhelming level of civil rights complaints. 260 OCR employees were recalled to help deal with the backlog, which was already large before March’s mass layoffs.
The firing of other DoEd workers, like those in OSERS, was also supposed to be reversed after the government shutdown ended, but there are conflicting reports about whether those employees have actually returned to work or were put on paid administrative leave. - Trump Administration releases list of “banned” words from Head Start grant programs. The six-page list invalidating grant applications for the education program includes the words disabilities, Black, women, and others.
In addition to being an important lifeline for young children and their families in meeting basic food, hygiene, and education needs, Head Start programs are extremely cost-effective. Each dollar spent in early intervention for a disabled or delayed child saves over $200 in supports later. The ACLU is in the process of filing suit. - Americans brace for 2026 Medicaid cuts and skyrocketing healthcare premiums for all as Biden’s ACA subsidies expire. Overall, already high insurance costs are predicted to rise by about 26%, while folks buying care on the marketplace will see their premiums more than double as subsidies expire.
Medicaid cuts in the form of reduced retroactive coverage for past medical bills, stricter eligibility, work, and immigration status requirements, more frequent eligibility reviews, and less funding for state expansion programs, are also kicking in next year. - Palantir, the surveillance contractor co-founded by anti-democracy billionaire Peter Theil, and used by ICE and the Pentagon, has been embedded into the Dept. of Ed. With a potential contract of up to 61 billion dollars, the highly secretive company will allegedly monitor “foreign influence” specifically in university funding.
- Related service providers report some immigrant families are opting out of early intervention, speech, and OT services for their disabled children, fearing ICE repercussions. Families report distrust of the government, or logos and insignia on government caseworkers’ cars and clothing similar to ICE, as reasons they’re opting out of or no longer requesting services for their disabled children. Similar trends in avoiding medical care and early childhood education were observed earlier in the year.
ICE has continued to show particular cruelty and ignored special protections supposedly in place for the disabled, elderly, and pregnant people throughout their run of arbitrary detainment.
- Trump uses the “r-word” in a tirade against MN Governor Tim Walz on social media, prompting an explosion of use among MAGA followers. (Musk had previously revitalized the slur amongst his neo-nazi followers on X.) The Walz family reports people driving by their family home and shouting the slur at Gus, Tim Walz’s disabled son.
For anyone familiar with Trump’s past behavior, this comes as no surprise–he mocked a disabled reporter while running for election the first time, said disabled people like his nephew should just “go die,” and has been a stalwart supporter of ableist and eugenicist policy, especially since taking office for the second time.
Tag: federal workforce
-
Week 45-46 Updates
-
Weeks 40-42 Updates
- Government shutdown reaches record-breaking lengths as Trump Administration defies court order to fund SNAP. The shutdown passed the 35 day-mark this week, breaking the record previously also held by Trump. Trump recently doubled down on threats not to pay backpay, though they have found “workarounds” to continue to pay the military, ICE, and for White House demolition.
SNAP funding, which should have been released November 1st, was not paid, leaving many families without the means to buy food. Historically, SNAP funding has been protected and continued without delay under all other government shutdowns. The USDA has an emergency fund to cover some of the gap, but initially declined to use it. After a class-action lawsuit by several states, a federal judge compelled the administration to fund SNAP last week.
At first they said they would comply and fund 50%, but Trump then backtracked on social media, saying they would not provide funding. With conflicting accounts from the President, USDA, and others inside the White House, the actual status of the delayed funds remains unclear.
SNAP, also known as EBT or food stamps, primarily provides monetary support to the disabled, elderly, or working poor with children in purchasing food. About 42 million Americans receive some benefits, calculated based on family size, location, and income levels. SNAP has strict work requirements, and often benefits are temporary for people experiencing new unemployment or a natural disaster.
SNAP reduces food insecurity, medical costs, and is good for the economy, providing a 150% return on investment for every $1 spent. It can only be used to purchase food and produce–it cannot buy hot meals, household cleaners, diapers, toilet paper or hygiene products, or any nonfood items or services. - New SNAP restrictions under the Big Beautiful Bill also take affect. Even if and when SNAP benefits return, many will find their eligibility restricted due to the implementation of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. The changes include even stricter work requirements, upping the required age for work from 54 to 64, and lowering the child age of parent exemption from 18 to 14. Eligibility has also been taken away from lawful immigrant recipients–previously some refugee groups were eligible for SNAP, but now must wait five years.
- RFK Jr walks back claims that Tylenol causes autism after pressed for evidence. RFK Jr. admitted in a press conference last week that there isn’t actually good evidence linking Tylenol to autism.
Unfortunately, given that the origins of the modern-day antivaxxer movement stems from a widely debunked paper by a grifter who lost his medical license, retractions seldom help after the misinformation has already spread, unless robust counter-education initiatives are launched. - Health insurance premiums set to spike as Republicans threaten Affordable Care Act subsidies. Democrats have said the reason for the government shutdown is because Republicans have refused to contend with renewing the ACA premiums, which are set to expire. Without them, families purchasing health insurance will see their premiums go up at an average of about 114%.
American healthcare is already one of the most expensive among peer nations, both per capita and as a share of the economy. On average, other large and wealthy countries pay about half as much. - Blind man dragged into ICE facility and detained after crossing a line agents painted on the ground to denote a “trespassing zone” during ongoing protests. Video shows the man sitting on the curb in a neon vest near the painted line before agents surrounded him and dragged him violently into the South Portland facility.
- Department of HHS adds new metric to measure employee performance: loyalty to Trump. Annual performance reviews will now include whether the workers “clearly and demonstrably support the implementation” of Trump’s agenda.
This (probably illegal) litmus test stands to further gut the already decimated department, where the administration has already fired thousands of scientists and cut grants for life-saving research.
Action Items:
Get your vaccinations up to date as soon as possible. Due to widespread antivax sentiment, the US is poised to lose its measles-free designation. Ask your state to join a state-level public health collaborative (a body that issues governing advice from medical professionals instead of a partisan CDC) if they haven’t yet.
Protect your neighbors. Warn and record in the presence of ICE. Push your local officials not to collaborate.
Donate to your money, time, food, or skills to a local food pantry or shelter. Often food pantries can purchase more food wholesale than we can provide, so cash donations are best, but many organizations also have specific lists available online for needed items. You can also donate time to pack and deliver food, or computer skills in helping spread the word about needed items or pick up locations.
Also consider libraries, clinics, cash bail funds, or other mutual aid if you can.
Hit the streets if you are able. March, attend a town hall, school board meeting, or other local action. Go, (but don’t RSVP, wtf) to a protest! Consider purchasing a reusable respirator (gas mask) if attending a mass protest, due to recent escalations in use of tear gas and other “less lethal” force at actions.
Call your representatives and especially your local officials to ensure special education gaps are being filled in your district.
Move to (more) secure communications when possible. Consider encrypted messaging apps like Signal, or communicate in-person when possible about sensitive issues, particularly ICE-related. Think about ways to spread information offline and locally. Make flyers and stickers. Make art. - Government shutdown reaches record-breaking lengths as Trump Administration defies court order to fund SNAP. The shutdown passed the 35 day-mark this week, breaking the record previously also held by Trump. Trump recently doubled down on threats not to pay backpay, though they have found “workarounds” to continue to pay the military, ICE, and for White House demolition.
-
Week 28 Update
- 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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.
- 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.
-
Week 27 Update
- 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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.
- 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.
-
Week 26 Update
- 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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.
- 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.
-
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 13 Updates
- White House asks Congress to Eliminate Head Start Funding. The current budget draft eliminates funding for Head Start, which provides early education, meals, and health screenings for pre-k kids. The elimination of Head Start was a stated goal of Project 2025.
Head Start outcomes are extremely successful, showing benefits for children in early literacy, social-emotional skills, health and dental improvements, early intervention for disabilities, and a >90% decrease in the need for family separation and foster care.
Many preschools–which include both public and private programs–who receive the funding were already struggling due to earlier federal freezes and staffing cuts. - US Citizen arrested on ICE hold, while White House flouts SCOTUS rulings and wants expansion of camps for “homegrowns.” Trump met with the President of El Salvador, and the two congratulated themselves on the imprisonment of asylum seekers and legal US residents. Trump remarked that US citizen “homegrown” prisoners would be next.
Despite various judicial rulings, including a unanimous SCOTUS ruling that the administration should facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, the White House has continued to organize more deportations and posted on X that Garcia will “never return.”
A US-born man was also imprisoned yesterday in Florida due to an ICE hold, even though he presented an authentic US birth certificate. He has since been released.
If the Executive branch does not accept the rulings of the judicial branch, rule of law ceases to exist in the US, paving the way for any and all “undesirables” to be sent to illegal detainment camps. - RFK spouts misinformation and hatred about autistic people. Autistic and disabled organizers, alongside parents and teachers of autistic children were alarmed at RFK Jr’s hateful comments on autism and his department’s plan to find the “environmental causes” of autism by September. His quote: “Autism destroys families, and more importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children. These are children who should not be suffering like this, These are kids who will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted…. We have to recognize we are doing this to our children, and we need to put an end to it.”
- (RFK Cont’d) Current studies show that nearly 80% of autism can be attributed to genetic factors. Recent increases in diagnosis and visibility are due to the reclassification of autism as a spectrum disorder, better screening, diagnostic, and support tools, and in-community living over institutionalization.
RFK’s remarks rang false for many autistic people and their families who live full and meaningful lives (including autistic adults who pay taxes).
Even in the case of high support needs individuals, no human’s value should be calculated by their monetary input into society. This is a direct regurgitation of eugenic rhetoric used throughout history to forcibly sterilize and murder disabled people, notably the Germans’ labeling of “useless eaters” as “drain” on society in the lead-up to murdering 300,000+ disabled people. - HHS fallout reveals loss of Advisory Committee on Heritable Diseases in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC). The latest HHS cuts include ACHDNC, which helped identify which genetic screenings should be available for newborns and children, and standardize the process across all states.
Without federal guidance and funding, states may or may not provide screenings, meaning that there will be delays and missed opportunities for early intervention in children with those conditions. Many of the conditions are rare, so families might not even know what to look for or ask their doctors about.
The move is at odds with RFK’s professed desire to ameliorate “children’s suffering” in his remarks on autism. - More HHS fallout. In addition to departments and programs noted in previous weeks, others continue to be endangered by the vast staffing cuts enacted across the department.
The FDA announced yesterday their plan to remove their food safety inspection programs due staffing constraints. The risk of foodborne illness hurts everyone, but can be deadly for children, the elderly, the chronically ill, immunocompromised, and pregnant people. Certain foodborne illness, like listeria, also cause stillbirth.
Due to the $11 billion in CDC funding cuts, many long-COVID education and research projects at the state-level have been forced to make drastic cuts or close completely. Researchers believe approximately 6 in 100 people develop a post-covid medical condition. - HHS issues “clarification” regarding gender dysphoria in Section 504’s Final Rule. RFK Jr. issued a clarification this week, noting that the mention of gender dysphoria in the preamble of Final Rule is not actually an enforceable part of Section 504, as opponents of the suit have pointed out since the initial filing of Texas v. Becerra.
However, precedent has been established for gender dysphoria being a protected condition under the ADA via other recent court decisions like Williams v. Kincaid.
It’s unclear what this statement regarding Final Rule will mean for Texas v. Becerra, which remains ongoing. - Texas v. Becerra lawsuit continues. Attorneys General continue to use transphobic rhetoric to attack Final Rule and Section 504, despite recent statements from HHS.
Participants continue to say they do not want to dismantle disabled people’s rights, but have not revoked the 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, but could have major implications in conjunction with rescinding of ADA guidance, and the uncertain future of DoEd. The next update is due in the coming days. - Local: Utah’s SB199 violates the ADA, due process. Late last month the Governor of Utah signed SB199, setting up a separate guardianship process for adults with “severe” disabilities.
Guardianship protocol already exists in UT, but the new set-up allows people to circumvent due process if a doctor declares a person’s disability “severe.”
Some disabled people benefit from guardianship arrangements, but all people have a right to due process, and the categorization of “severe” is vague.
The ACLU is currently attempting to block the bill as a violation of one’s right to due process and the ADA. - Do not comply in advance (good news). Due to pending legal action over McMahon’s DoEd issued directive to withhold funding from schools pending receipt of their anti-DEI loyalty pledge, a judge ordered that schools do not need to sign any certifications until at least April 24, after the legality of the pledge is assessed. Previously, the directive required school leadership to sign within 10 days.
So far VT, MA, CT, NY DE, PA, MI, WI, IL, MN, CO, UT, OR, WA, CA, officials have declined to sign, while other states have declared their intent to sign or are still in review. See the full map here.
- White House asks Congress to Eliminate Head Start Funding. The current budget draft eliminates funding for Head Start, which provides early education, meals, and health screenings for pre-k kids. The elimination of Head Start was a stated goal of Project 2025.