Disability Rights Watch

Author: Disability Rights Watch

Week 4 Update
Battles in the courts, Congress, and the labs this week, but the outcry against Texas v. Beccera shows the pressure still works, with some AGs backing away from the suit. Keep it up!

PS–Trans rights are human rights. This lawsuit shows us they will try to pit us against one another with misinformation, and we’re not falling for it, dudes. We fight together.

1. The Research Arm of DoED is Dismantled: The Institute of Education Services (IES) is an office within DoED that funds education research grants. Most of their grants were suddenly cut by Musk’s DOGE team this week.

AEM Education Services, an analysis vendor, also had their contracts suddenly cancelled on Tuesday. AEM’s data analysis helps decide where funding for IDEA (the law that protects disabled students rights in school) goes. Without this data, states may not receive their IDEA-related grants, making it hard to fund or execute IEPS and 504 plans and services.

2. Linda McMahon’s HELP Committee hearing begins: Trump nominated former Pro-Wrestling Executive McMahon to be the Secretary of DoED as part of his ongoing desire to abolish the agency. Inside sources say Trump will not issue his EO to gut the department until she is confirmed. While it would take an act of Congress to fully close the Department, the proposed EO will take it down to the studs. The HELP committee began their hearing on Thursday, and they are expected to vote next week.

The committee is 11 GOP-12 Dem, with Murkowski, Collins, Husted (has supported disability rights in the past) and Paul (has a deaf nephew, has signed ASL on the Senate floor) as potential pressure points. See our full DoED explainer on what the department does, current threats, sources, and action items.

4: Probationary Employees are Laid off; Deferred Resignation Program Moves Forward: Thousands of “probationary employees” across agencies, including the Department of Ed, were fired this week. “Probationary” means a person usually has less than 1 or 2 years on the job, depending on department.

Insiders saw the move as another step in the sweeping purge of federal employees to replace them with loyalists, and to shrink the civil service overall. A judge also allowed OPM’s deferred resignation offer to move forward, though the deadline to accept is now passed.

5. National Institutes of Health Slash Funding for Medical Research: The NIH announced funding for research hospitals’ and universities’ operating budgets will be reduced to 15%. Most are currently about 70% NIH funded.

Researchers and universities say this could stall or stop groundbreaking medical research and the creation of treatments and cures for a variety of disorders, diseases, and genetic conditions.

6. Center for Disease Control, National Science Foundation, and Others’ “Banned Words” List: Agencies are purging their websites and rejecting grant applications based on lists of “banned words” related to DEIA. This will ensure any research projects meant to serve marginalized people aren’t funded and known info is less accessible.

Some of the disability-related words flagged include disability, advocacy, inclusion, barrier, bias, discrimination, equality, sociocultural, social justice, equity, prejudice, multicultural, and more.

7: RFK Jr. Confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services: The Senate confirmed RFK Jr. to lead HHS despite his anti-scientific, anti-vaccine, and eugenicist views. His leadership will put the public health of all Americans in danger, and will be especially harmful to disabled people.

An Executive Order released immediately after his confirmation established a “Make America Health Again” commission, and included neurodivergency in a list of things that pose “a dire threat to the American People and our way of life. “

Project 2025 and S 5384 propose that in the event of DoED’s closure, IDEA oversight goes to HHS, giving RFK Jr. control over disabled children’s educational rights and funding.

8. Advocates concerned new House budget will take aim at Medicaid. The GOP proposed 2 trillion in cuts to mandatory spending, leaving many advocates concerned about the future of Medicaid.

No official numbers about where cuts will come from are available, but Medicare and Medicaid make up some of the largest pools of money over which Congress has jurisdiction. It would be difficult to approach a 2 trillion cut without some impact. Budget-related information will be a developing story as the proposal reaches the House floor for debate.

9. Texas vs. Beccera Attempts to Dismantle Section 504 Section 504 is a statute in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that says entities who get federal funding or grants cannot discriminate on the basis of disability. It protects disabled people’s rights to be treated at a hospital, attend public school, and receive accommodations in these and other federally-funded places.

The lawsuit seeks to roll back 2024 updates to the law, and also asks a judge to declare Section 504 in its entirety unconstitutional. 17 states are signed on.

If the statute is repealed, it will have national effect. It also sets legal precedent with which to attack the Civil Rights Act.

Involved parties are due to release a status update next week, 25 February. Read our full explainer, with links to more sources and action items.

Take Action:
- Share this info. Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage
- Contact Senators Collins, Murkowski, Husted, and Paul, and ask them to vote NO on McMahon’s nomination. You can contact a Senator who isn’t yours in their capacity as a committee member, as long as you are honest that you are not their constituent.
- Contact your Attorney General and ask him to drop out of Texas v. Beccera if involved. If your state isn’t involved, you can still call your AG and ask them to protect Section 504 by filing an amicus brief.
- Write/call your Congresspeople and tell them to fight for the Department of Education and Medicaid.
- Keep an eye on your state legislatures and make sure they are not complying in advance!
- Use #ProtectADA on social media for community sharing, news, letter templates and more
February 15, 2025
Take it to the Streets! Flyers Download Page

The news is changing so rapidly it can be hard to keep up. We’re creating flyers that will target different issues, and link viewers to with explainers and action items. Click on a flyer below to download the PDF.

February 12, 2025
What’s going on with the US Department of Education?
In the news:

President Trump has repeatedly promised to close the Department of Education, including at his September 2024 rally in Pennsylvania, and later on a Fox and Friends interview. He reiterated the plan when he nominated former WWE executive Linda McMahon to head the department. This plan can also be found in Project 2025.

Closing the Department of Education(DoED) legally would take an act of Congress. There are now currently 3 active bills that seek to dismantle it:
– HR 899 “To Terminate the Department of Education” Rep. Massey (KY)
-HR 369 “To Provide for the Elimination of The Department of Education, and for Other Purposes” Rep. Rouzer (NC)
-S 5384 “Returning Education to our States Act” Sen. Rounds (SD)

The bills differ in their plans for the department’s functions. S 5384 relocates certain programs to other departments following Project 2025’s outlines, while HR 899’s entire text is one sentence: “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2026.”

President Trump also drafted an Executive Order designed to gut DoED. Sources say he will not sign off on the order until McMahon is confirmed, due to its controversial nature.

Elon Musk’s DOGE team cancelled most of DoED’s research this week. The Institute of Education Services (IES) is an office within DoED that funds research grants. Most or all of their grants have been cut.

AEM Education Services, a contractor of the Office of Special Ed and Rehabilitative Services(OSERS) within DoED, also had their contracts suddenly cancelled on Tuesday, February 11th. AEM’s provides data analysis to determine where IDEA –the law that protects disabled students rights at school–funding should go. Without this data, states may not receive their IDEA-related grants, making it difficult for them to execute IEPs and services.

What Does DoED Actually Do?

Founded by President Carter, DoED serves 4 essential functions:
1. Dispersing federal aid, like Pell grants and related FAFSA financial support for students attending college.
2. Collecting and sharing data, research, and training materials: DoED conducts studies on teaching methods and shares that information with schools across the country.
3. Choosing and advocating for key national educational issues, like the “Common Core” about things students should be able to do at a given grade level. For example: a reading standard for a first grader wouldn’t dictate what books a teacher should use, but says a student should be able to, “identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.”
4. Preventing discrimination and ensuring equal access to education:
  – DoED makes sure all K-12 students have access to “Free and Appropriate Public Education” (FAPE) by enforcing the law known as IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). Through grants to districts, DoED also pays some IDEA-related costs through grants, though this varies from district to district. Under IDEA, a disabled child is entitled to accommodation and an Individual Education Plan, or IEP.
  
  If a school violates the IEP or the child’s right to education, it is with DoED that parents file a complaint. (Sometimes families are told to file an additional complaint to the Office of Civil Rights under the Department of Justice, but this Office is also frozen under the current administration.”
  
  – DoED disburses funds to a variety of deaf and disability-centered programming through the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) as well as institutions like Gallaudet University, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the American Printing House for the Blind, Special Olympics, Helen Keller National Center for the DeafBlind and more.
  
  – DoED provides supplemental funding to underserved K-12 schools, known as “Title 1 schools,” in situations where state and local funding is inadequate. These schools often serve rural populations, as well as BIPOC-majority areas, and disabled students here are at already multiply marginalized.
What the Dept. of Education Doesn’t Do

Supporters of abolishing DoED often say they want to give control of education “back to the states.” But education content is already in state control.

DoED does NOT regulate specific content or curriculum. States and local school boards decide things like what textbooks, novels or other curriculum items a school district uses.

What happens to IDEA and IEPs Without DoED?

We’re not sure, exactly, whether IDEA enforcement will be moved to another department, or whether the administration will attempt to stop enforcement. As the administration is currently in contempt of several judicial orders about the constitutionality of their orders, depending solely on hope in the rule of law is not advisable.

IDEA is currently enforced by complaints to DoED and the Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR). Leaving parents without those avenues when districts don’t provide access leaves families without recourse, rendering IEPs less than binding.

Even if the programming is spared moved to another department, the transition would be rocky and lots of expert knowledge and policy guidance would be lost. It would be up to that new agency what kind of resources should be dedicated to IDEA enforcement. For example, if IDEA is saved and moved to HHS, it would be up to RFK Jr. to decide what happens to IDEA enforcement. Kennedy has supported anti-vax conspiracies about autism, echoed eugenicist philosophy, and suggested people with substance abuse disorders and folks who take prescription drugs, such as ADHD medicationbe sent to “wellness camps” to do outdoor labor.

How Can I Take Action to Save DoED?

1. Call these four Senators in their capacity on the HELP committee, and tell them to vote NO on McMahon’s nomination. This will stall the process. The committee is 11-12 GOP, so we only need one to flip in order to deadlock the vote. If you are honest about where you live, you can call from out of state regarding the committee in particular. The hearing begins tomorrow, 13 February 2025, so this is time sensitive.

Susan Collins (known to be more likely to occasionally cross party lines): (202) 224-2523
Lisa Murkowski (known to be more likely to occasionally cross party lines): (202) 244-6665
John Husted (has previously supported disability rights): (202) 224-3353
Rand Paul (has a deaf nephew; has signed ASL on the Senate floor): (202)-224-4343

2. If the Committee advances McMahon, call your senator to tell them to vote NO on confirming. Find your senator’s contact information here.

Share this Information!

Many people, especially those following only mainstream or conservative media, are missing this information, but the Department of Education protects everyone’s rights. Print out this flyer and spread the word around town!

Does Your Child Have a 504 Plan or IEP at School Flyer Download
February 12, 2025
What’s the Deal with the Section 504 Lawsuit?

Section 504 is a civil rights statute that says any entity that gets money from the federal government (funding, grants, etc.) cannot discriminate on the basis of disability. It is part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 law. This protection impacts education, healthcare, immigration services, child services, emergency services, clinical research, private companies who get federal grants, and all federal agencies and buildings.

Many people are most familiar with Section 504 through the use of 504 Plans to support disabled students at school. 504 Plans provide accommodations in public school settings like ASL interpreters, closed captions, ramps, preferential seating, extra time on tests, quiet testing environments, access to braille, audiobooks, FM systems, speech-to-text and AAC devices, and more.

Section 504 is a kind of statute known as a “spending clause.” There are also other civil rights spending clauses that protect people from discrimination on the basis of race and sex.

In 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued some updated guidance on Section 504. These are called the “Final Rule.” The pandemic revealed extreme inequities in healthcare remain–like hospitals denying lifesaving care on the basis of disability–so the Final Rule clarified who must follow 504, and what it means in the time of the internet. The Final Rule says 504 protection covers include all doctors and healthcare offices that accept Medicaid or Medicare, and their medical equipment, telehealth and websites. It also impacts programs for child services and independent living.

What is Texas vs. Becerra?

Texas vs. Becerra is a lawsuit with two main parts. One part asks the judge to strike down the Final Rule. The other part asks the judge to declare Section 504 as a whole unconstitutional and stope its enforcement.

Isn’t There Something to Do with Trans Folks in the Suit?

Sort of! The TLDR is that biased Attorneys Generals are using transphobia as a cover to get others to join in on their ableism. Jump down to the last section on this page to read more about the misconceptions.

What Would Happen if These States Win?

If the states succeed in striking down the Final Rule, disabled people’s enumerated protections under 504 will be taken back to what they were fifty years ago, without accounting for the internet, mobile devices, pandemic healthcare and more. Disabled people’s rights to live independently in-community would be impacted.

If the states succeed in having the entirety of Section 504 declared unconstitutional, all protections will be lost, including in education.

504 and the ADA, as well as other protective spending clauses, are linked in the way they’re enforced, so striking down 504 could endanger the enforcement mechanisms of the ADA as well.

This would also be a dangerous legal precedent for other spending clauses, like anti-race and sex based discrimination. It could set the stage for those protections to be declared unconstitutional, too.

Take Action: What Can We Do?

Seventeen states are currently signed on to Texas vs. Beccera.

Image of the US with involved states in pink. MT, UT, SD, NE, KS, TX, AK, LA, AR, MO, IN, AL, GA, FL, SC,WV. Image courtesy DREDF,org

If you live in one of the 17 states signed onto this case, contact your Attorney General today. Let them know attacking the Final Rule and Section 504 is not ok, and ask them to drop out of the lawsuit. Here are scripts you can use while contacting your AG.

If you don’t live in one of these states, you can still contact your Attorney General. Progressive AGs can watch this litigation, file an amicus brief and more.

Here is contact information for all 50 Attorneys General

What if my Attorney General Tells me the Case is Inactive, or Doesn’t Really Attack Section 504?

Push back on misinformation and disinformation!

“This is a case about gender dysphoria.” The preamble to the Final Rule document mentions the ongoing legal inquiry into whether gender dysphoria can be classified a disability. There are currently several other court cases examining this question, and courts are split on it. The original 504 statute does not protect folks with gender dysphoria, and though Final Rule discussions mention the ongoing question in the courts, it makes no enforceable determination, or policy guidance within the text of Final Rule itself. This is political spin used to rally conservatives to the suit. However, it is important to note that there are trans disabled folks, and that the disability community stands with all LGBTQ+ folks. You can read HHS’s Final Rule document here.

“This case only takes issue with a small part of the Rule.” The suit has multiple parts. One part attacks the Final Rule, and one part explicitly asks the judge to declare all of Section 504 unconstitutional. Point your AG to page 37 of the complaint, under the heading “Count 3: Section 504 is Unconstitutional.” The full text of the complaint is here.

“The case is inactive.” The case is not inactive. The case has been paused until February 25th, 2025 in the wake of the new administrative transition. The DOJ and other involved parties are required to provide a status update on that day.

Screenshot of pg 37 of the complaint with the header “Count 3: Section 504 is Unconstitutional”

Need to fact-check something else? Disability Rights and Education Defense Fund has a great FAQ document here, as well as many other resources about this and other attacks on their site: www.dredf.org

Spread the Word!

The media isn’t reporting much on this case. Download our flyer and share it, especially offline. Disability affects people of every race, class, age, sex, gender, national origin, political affiliation and religion. People who aren’t spending much time on social media also need this info, and we are all stronger together.

Does Your Child Have a 504 Plan or IEP at School Flyer Download

Do You or a Loved One Have a Disability Download

February 12, 2025
Week 3: What Happened?
Some good news, some bad news this week, and an important reminder that putting pressure on elected officials still works.
1. Three Current Bills in Congress Seek to Dismantle the Department of Education
  – HR 899 “To Terminate the Department of Education” Rep. Massey (KY)
  – HR 369 “To Provide for the Elimination of The Department of Education, and for Other Purposes” Rep. Rouzer (NC)
  – S 5384 “Returning Education to our States Act” Sen. Rounds (SD)
  
  Eliminating DoED would have devastating consequences in funding and oversight for all students, but especially at underfunded (Title 1) schools, and for disabled children everywhere who require the protection of IDEA law to attend school and receive accommodations.
2. Date Set for Linda McMahon’s Senate HELP Committee Hearing. Trump nominated former Pro-Wrestling Executive McMahon to be the Secretary of DoED. A draft of his EO ordering the dismantling of the department from within was floated last week. Inside sources say it is on hold until McMahon is confirmed.
  
  The HELP committee is 11 GOP-12 Dem, with Murkowski and Collins as potential pressure points The hearing is 13 February at 562 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
3. Memorandum “Further Guidance Ending DEIA Offices, Programs and Initiatives” The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a 5 February memorandum doubling down on Trump’s previous anti-DEIA executive orders within the federal workforce.
  
  One notable exception was OPM directed the bare minimum must be done to comply with the Rehabilitation act of 1973, which should protect some accommodations for disabled employees. However, the memo continues to dismantle DEIA programming, affinity groups, Special Emphasis Programs and directs agencies ignore the rights of protected classes in favor of Executive demands.
4. States Take Dismantling Education into Their Own Hands
  Alabama HB197 seeks to “investigate” and fine parents who file complaints under IDEA’s due process procedures, and makes it harder to recover legal fees if a family wins their case.
  
  Indiana SB 0473 includes changes to operations of the state’s Center for Deaf/Hard of Hearing Education, prioritizing spoken language over bilingual ASL/English, and all communication modalities and options for families. The bill text is currently being revised, so keep an eye on this.
5. Congresspeople, Advocates and Others Locked out of the Department of Education. On February 7, members of Congress and other advocates attempted to enter DoED, but the doors were locked and security refused them entry. Reports are conflicting on who the security agents report to. At one point, armed federal agents appeared on-scene.
  
  Sources inside DoEd say the doors are not supposed to be locked and people are typically free to approach the front desk. Authorized contract workers were also barred entry.It remains unclear at the time of this writing why access has been restricted.
6. Healthcare Head Start Organizations Experience Funding Delays as Congress Floats More Cuts. Community healthcare centers, “safety net” hospitals, and Head Start providers failed to receive their funding due to a lag in the system after last week’s freeze. Some were forced to close their doors.
  
  This comes as the House Budget Committee seeks to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the domestic budget and reallocate it to the defense budget, to support Trump’s deportation and border enforcement escalations. Medicaid and SNAP, healthcare and food assistance programs for low-income and/or disabled folks, are targeted for the deepest cuts.
7. Senate Committee Advances RFK Jr. in the Nomination Process. RFK Jr’s anti-scientific, anti-vaccine, and eugenicist views put everyone in danger, and will be especially harmful to disabled people.
  
  Additionally, Project 2025 and S 5384 propose that in the event of DoED’s closure, IDEA oversight goes to HHS, giving RFK Jr. control over disabled children’s educational rights and funding.
  
  Antivax movements have been spending a lot of time and money on RFK’s advancement, and opponents are being outspent and outcalled.
8. A Little Good News: Oklahoma’s SB 1017 is Withdrawn. Oklahoma’s SB 1017 attempted to remove “related services” for disabled students from IEPS and school grounds. This would have included Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and other educational and medical and therapeutic supports.
  
  Due to pressure from the community, this bill was withdrawn! Calling and writing your reps can still work, and is especially effective at local levels.
What to Do?
Share this info. Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.
- Contact Senators Collins and Murkowski and ask them to vote NO on McMahon’s nomination. Deadlocking the committee or blocking the nomination may slow down attacks on DoED. You can contact a Senator who isn’t yours in their capacity as a committee member, as long as you are honest that you are not their constituent.
- Write/call your Senator to vote NO on confirming RFK Jr. Senators are hearing loudly from the other side on this, and we need to even the count.
- Write/call your Congresspeople and tell them to protect the Department of Education and Medicaid.
- Keep an eye on your state legislatures and make sure they are not complying in advance!
#ProtectADA for community sharing, news, letter templates and more

Tools and Resources:

Find my House Representative

Contact my Senator

Use the 5 Calls App for easy phone call contact and scripts

Text, fax, or email using Resist.bot

For D/HH Folks: Call Senators by VP, or try the Nagish App for captioned calls, text relay or VCO calls.
February 10, 2025
Week 2: What Happened?
1. Some ASL interpreters and accommodations divisions were fired in Anti-DEIA sweeps. The White House Press Office interpreter is gone. Providers housed in DEIA divisions were laid off, despite the violation of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Since it’s illegal, departments are being told to reverse course on this, with some complying and some not. Trump’s previous administration was sued over failure to provide interpreters at press conferences and lost, but has again removed the interpreter from briefings.
2. Some resources regarding disabled children’s rights have been deleted from the Dept of Ed’s website. FAQs about Section 504 and other resources went missing during Musk’s DOGE external server takeover, which also seems responsible for a spate of press releases and Facebook posts not in keeping with DoEd’s materials. Due to inconsistencies, verify information with multiple sources when possible.
3. Funding freeze of federal payment system creates chaos. A judge blocked the freeze but some programs are still being targeted. Contact elected officials to ensure a new head of OMB recognizes that appropriation powers belong to Congress, not the President. Many essential health, medical and research programs remain frozen from previous orders. Investigations into potential “DEIA” programs continue.
4. Current Programs “Under Review” for potential defunding under anti-DEIA orders.
  
  Deaf and hard of hearing-specific programs:
  Training Interpreters for Individuals who are Deaf and Deaf-Blind (DoED), Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders (HHS), National Deaf Services (DOJ)
  
  Special Education-related programs Research in Special Ed, Special Ed Technology, Media, and Materials for Individuals with Disabilities, Special Ed Grants for Infants and Families, Special Ed Grants to States, Special Ed Parent Info Centers, Special Ed Preschool Grants, Special Ed Studies and Evaluations; Special Ed Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children w/ Disabilities; Special Ed Technical Assistance on State Data Collection; Special Ed Personnel Development to Improve Services for Children with Disabilities; Special Olympics Education Programs; State Personnel Development (DoED)
  A searchable spreadsheet of all programs and grants under review is available from Politico here.
5. RFK Jr.’s Nomination Hearing for HHS Secretary begins. RFK supports a variety of racist, ableist and scientifically inaccurate conspiracy theories. His stances on vaccination put the immunocompromised, and everyone, at risk. He has proposed sending folks to “wellness camps” in lieu of taking ADHD medication, boosts hateful rhetoric about autistic people, and holds many other eugenicist beliefs.
6. Donald Trump blames DC plane crash on disabled FAA workers and DEIA. In a press conference, Trump quickly capitalized on the tragedy to deride the FAAs DEI hiring initiatives, specifically listing off various disabilities, then insinuating that disabled and/or BIPOC people aren’t smart enough to do Air Traffic Control. Trump’s first administration had originally been behind the 2019 program to hire disabled people at the FAA. Thursday, he issued an official memorandum ordering the removal of DEI from the aviation sector.
  
  There is no evidence for the President’s claims re: this or any crash. Physical requirements for ATC employees are stringent, and the FAA has long been understaffed. Before the crash, Trump had gutted a key aviation safety committee, and Elon forced the FAA chief to quit over a personal vendetta for having been fined at SpaceX.
7. Executive Order: “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 schooling” This order threatens to defund schools for a variety of perceived “violations” including respecting trans and nonbinary students, and teaching about racism and honest US history, which it labels “discriminatory equity ideology.” This is defined as “an ideology that treats individuals as members of preferred or disfavored groups, rather than as individuals, and minimizes agency, merit and capability.”
  
  The Dept. of Ed has never dictated curriculum or content; this is left to states and districts. Defunding schools hurts all students, especially the marginalized, and preventing teachers from discussing discrimination only perpetuates it. The emphasis on “merit” and “capability” given recent-disability rhetoric is also concerning here.
8. Executive Order: “Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families” This order directs a variety of federal agencies to prioritize ways to expand “school choice” and voucher programs at the federal level.
  
  Sending money meant for public schools to private and religious ones is of concern for disabled students, because private schools are not required to accommodate, or even accept, disabled students, leaving them stranded at underfunded schools and/or with limited support and no recourse.
What to Do:
1. Share this info. Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.
2. Write/call your congress people and demand that they continue fighting for their duty to make appropriations. Advocate for programs you value. It is taxpayer money, not an executive decision.
3. Write your senator to vote NO on confirming RFK Jr.
4. Contact your state legislature and school board and ask that they not comply in advance with voucher expansion or directives for indoctrination. An EO cannot control state funds or educational content areas–states and districts decide their curriculums.
5. #ProtectADA on social media for community sharing, news, letter templates, and more
Tools and Resources:

Find my House Representative

Contact my Senator

Use the 5 Calls App for easy phone call contact and scripts

Text, fax, or email using Resist.bot
February 9, 2025
Week 1: What Happened?
Things are happening quickly. We’ll include a weekly round up of disability-related concerns, events, and polices on this site.

ASL Version of the below information. English voiceover also provided.
1. Removal of the “Accessibility” page, and all ASL content from the White House Website The White House page indicates the administration’s values (and potential targets). Accessibility is now a 404 error, concerning in the wake of right wing cultural attacks on the presence of interpreters at emergency press briefings.
2. Executive Order “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Spending” This order seeks to terminate all DEI related programs and work within the federal government. In the text, DEI sometime includes accessibility as DEIA.
3. Executive Order: “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Order” This order expands the Reach of anti-DEIA tasks, including investigating private sector businesses that have DEIA initiatives.
4. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Frozen “Until Further Notice” The DOJ’s OCR is responsible for fielding complaints and cases to protect against discrimination based on race, sex, gender, class, age, religion, disability, national origin and more. It is also one of the main mechanisms for enforcing the ADA and Section 504.
5. The US Access Board’s Annual Meeting Postponed Indefinitely. The board is legally mandated to meet annually and maintain federal access standards. Their meeting was canceled with no reason or reschedule date given. If access standards are significantly revised, this could be a backdoor way of dismantling the ADA without repealing the law.
What can I do?

Share this information.

Write or call your representative to let them know you are concerned about the targeting of disability protections. If possible explain why they are important to you, your family, or community on a personal level.

Tools and Resources:

Find my House Representative

Contact my Senator

Use the 5 Calls App for easy phone call contact and scripts

Text, fax, or email using Resist.bot
February 9, 2025