Disability Rights Watch

Category: Breaking News

  • Week 10 Update

    1. The Department of Health and Human Services laid off 10,000 employees. HHS underwent sweeping layoffs this week, with whole sub-agencies and departments shuttered and grants cut.

      This comes as the administration continues to say that special education oversight and services will be moved to HHS. Now the department not only has no educational expertise, but is also stretched thin.

      Programs for HIV and infectious disease prevention were abruptly eliminated on Thursday. More clarity on the fallout from layoffs and specific departments lost is expected through the weekend.
    2. RFK Jr. begins shutdown of the Administration for Community Living (ACL). On Thursday, HHS began restructuring in the wake of the layoffs, including a move to close the ACL. The ACL supports disabled and elderly people’s right to live and work in-community. It helps ensure programming access is efficient so disabled people can be more independent and financially stable.

      Without the ACL, advocates are concerned about economic impacts, an increase in homelessness, and a move back toward forced institutionalization.
    3. RFK Jr. taps antivaxxer to lead study about link between autism and vaccines, forces FDA’s Peter Mark’s resignation. RFK Jr. announced a large-scale federal study into the already-debunked theory linking vaccines and autism. He forced the resignation of top FDA vaccine scientist Peter Mark, and has selected noted antivaxxer David Geier to lead the project.

      Geier has published numerous false papers on vaccines and autism with his father, Mark Geier, based on research they conduct in their basement.

      RFK Jr. himself frequently profits from antivax rhetoric, and has spoken disparagingly of autistic people a “threat” to the American way of life. Geier is not a doctor. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland.
    4. Deaf community sees tough losses in technology and educational funding. Gallaudet University lost a multi-million dollar grant for deaf technology under the HHS reorganization, while an NIH cut axed an undergraduate STEM program for deaf students out of NTID. (Per internal sources; specific numbers and grant titles pending secondary confirmation.)

      Minnesota’s Deaf Community Support Center was also forced to close its doors after a federal COVID-19 related grant was cut.

      The Liaison who oversees and advocates for funding for NTID, Gallaudet, and other special institutions, was fired in the DoED layoffs, despite that position being mandated by the 1986 law The Education of the Deaf Act. These remain a small sample of what is likely to come from HHS and DoED layoff fallout.
    5. DOGE plans to rewrite Social Security database, threatening delayed payments. In an ongoing effort to prove as yet nonexistent fraud, DOGE has decided to re-program the SSA’s database into an updated programming language.

      COBOL, the current language of the database, is legitimately old. However, safely recoding a project of this scale would take years, and DOGE has set a 9-month timeline. Experts are concerned this will put the integrity of the database at risk, and could cause delayed or lost payments, or total collapse.

      Simultaneously DOGE cuts have closed 47 field offices, as well as phone verification options, forcing the elderly and disabled to travel long distances to acquire benefits.
    6. Texas vs. Becerra lawsuit continues. Attorneys General continue to use transphobic rhetoric to attack Final Rule and Section 504. 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 April.
    7. Executive Order, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.” On Tuesday Trump issued an illegal executive order aimed at sweeping election reform, including: mail-in voting restrictions, requiring a REAL ID or passport to prove citizenship to vote, and the Homeland Security and DOGE creation and “review” of a list of registered voters.

      The law clearly says that states have the power to oversee and regulate their own elections, so this executive order will be difficult to enforce. However, we may see conservative states comply in advance. Limiting mail-in access or requiring in-person registration would infringe on disabled and elderly people’s ability to vote.
    8. Illegally fired DoED employees pack up; Senate sees new bill to abolish department. DoED employees laid off in a massive gutting of the department two weeks ago returned to pack their things on Friday. Many of those firings were illegal, as certain positions within DoED are mandated by educational law. People lined the sidewalks to cheer the former employees in a “clap-out” event as they left.

      21 States are currently suing to have DoEd employees return to work. A timeline of the suit is unclear, as is whether the current administration will follow a judge’s orders.

      Rand Paul (KY) introduced a new bill, S 1148, to eliminate the department on Wednesday.
    9. Reminder: Our liberation is intertwined. It’s difficult to keep up with the pace of the news, but important to keep sight of the fact that all marginalized people’s rights are intertwined.

      Just as the Section 504 lawsuit sets precedent for the destruction of other civil rights clauses, so too does the arrest and deportation of immigrants without due process affect disabled people’s, and everyone’s, rights to a functioning judicial system with the power to roll back illegal overreaches, and an overall government that adheres to the Constitution. Solidarity is our only way through.

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

    Call your Representative and tell them to intervene on behalf of the Dept of Education, the ADA, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and other HHS programs.

    Make sure your vaccines are up to date, especially if you may have received an inactive virus version of the MMR vaccine from 1963-67.

    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.

    Deaf folks and allies–contact the Gallaudet and NTID Boards of Trustees and urge them to be proactive about the futures of these universities.

    Consider how to move toward creative acts of growing awareness, including offline materials, local protest and mutual aid.

  • NEW: Former Gallaudet Employee Speaks Out Against “Deceitful, Fanciful Thinking” in University’s Response to DoEd Layoffs

    NEW: Former Gallaudet Employee Speaks Out Against “Deceitful, Fanciful Thinking” in University’s Response to DoEd Layoffs

    The following post provides information specific to Gallaudet University, the world’s only liberal arts university exclusively for D/HH students, in the wake of the Department of Ed’s layoffs last week.

    For a general overview of that news, click here. For more information and action items specific to Gallaudet University, click here.

    For an ASL version of this material, see Amy Cohen Efron’s vlog below.

    Note- the author of the letter below is a source with knowledge of the federal government, writing on condition of anonymity:

    I don’t usually comment on Gallaudet, but as a former employee of the university, this is too important to not discuss because of the university’s significance to the Deaf community. Someone sent me the message from Gallaudet’s president yesterday, which I read with consternation. The language used implies either sheer ignorance about the reality on the ground or, worse, an intentional misleading of the community as to what has happened with the Department of Education (ED) and its liaison for the special institutes, including Gallaudet.

    As a result, the community does not understand the facts or the seriousness of the situation, and the university administration risks creating further confusion and division among the community when it is crucial for the community to understand how to advocate most effectively for the preservation of Gallaudet and its future.

    From the president’s message: 

    “The Department of Education has implemented significant layoffs, affecting nearly 50% of its workforce, including our liaison. While the Department of Education is required to assign a new liaison, it is unclear how and when this will happen. The Department of Education has confirmed that our funding is secured.” [Read/View full message here]

    This message mischaracterizes what has happened and is blatantly disingenuous about how it can be fixed. Let’s walk through this: 

    1.    OFFICE/POSITION ELIMINATED: The position of Director/Liaison of the Special Institutes is in the Office of Policy and Planning (OPP), within the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). OPP was eliminated completely (see link for org chart). This means that the liaison position is gone … as in it no longer exists. A new liaison cannot be designated when the position does not exist anymore. 

    2.    POSITION NOT TRANSFERRED: Reduction in force procedures allow for transfer of functions and make it clear that employees performing these functions “have the right to move with their work to another organization if the alternative is separation by RIF” (OPM guidance). There is no indication that the duties and functions of the liaison have been or will be transferred to another department or agency. All evidence indicates this position is fully eliminated with no plans for continuity of functions. 

    3.    NO TRANSITION PLANNING: Because of attrition, deferred resignation, and VERA, numerous vacancies existed before the layoffs began (see org chart). With these preexisting vacancies, the vacancy rate at ED is effectively over 65%, not 50%; within OSERS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary, the only person left is the assistant secretary. On top of that, ED employees who took retirement were immediately put on leave March 11, and the layoffs were equally as abrupt. This means it would have been impossible to conduct any level of transition planning to ensure continuity of institutional knowledge and understanding of how to perform functions … precisely because the intention was to not have these positions anymore. If the liaison position is restored but the employee not reinstated, this lack of transition planning will hamper any new employee in being able to do the job effectively.

    4.    HIRING FREEZE: Even if the liaison position still existed, the administration has implemented a hiring freeze for all but immigration enforcement, national security, and public safety. In addition, the EO prohibits the creation of new positions. Without significant pressure on the administration, it is very unlikely an exception will be granted to hire someone into the restored liaison position. 

    5.    LENGTHY HIRING PROCESS: Even if an exception is granted to hire someone into OSERS for the Secretary to designate (appoint) as the liaison, the federal hiring process is extremely long. It can take four months to a year to fill a vacancy—and four months is considered “speedy”! The escalating disruptions to human resources staffing and processes government-wide threaten to make this process even longer. 

    6.    REEMPLOYMENT PRIORITY LIST REQUIREMENT: Assuming the layoffs were done in accordance with legal requirements for reduction in force, as described on OPM’s website, ED is required to give reemployment priority to anyone they laid off through RIF. Therefore, the person who was laid off when the liaison position was eliminated has priority to return to the position, making it disingenuous for Gallaudet to call for a new liaison to be appointed. 

    7.    GAP IN FUNDING MECHANISM: While the continuing resolution does appropriate funding for Gallaudet, as the president’s message states, there is an additional critical step of obligating funds, which is how the funds land in Gallaudet’s bank account. Congress grants legal authorization to spend funds (appropriations), the authorized person signs the paperwork to spend the funds (obligations), and then the funds are disbursed to the recipient. In short, obligation is like opening a door to allow funds to go through. Generally, authority to obligate funds is given to the secretary of a department, who then can delegate that authority to a subordinate. The Secretary of Education likely delegated authority to the liaison, who would then have been trained and certified in obligating funding – i.e., the liaison signs the paperwork authorizing the funds to be disbursed to Gallaudet. Without that paperwork signed by an authorized person, ED’s financial office cannot release (i.e., disburse) the funding. Since the liaison position was eliminated, who has the authority to obligate the funding for Gallaudet? 

    8. FUTURE OF DEPT OF EDUCATION: The overarching issue the university administration misses is that the goal here is to dismantle and terminate the Department of Education. With ED gone, where will the liaison position reside?

    With all these factors at play, for the university president to say all that needs to be done is for a new liaison to be assigned is beyond deceitful. It’s fanciful thinking that fails to grasp the full picture of what is happening.

    It also demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of how the government works and the legal constraints in which it operates. The easiest, fastest, and legal route to fix this is for the liaison position to be restored at ED or its functions transferred to another department.

    The Gallaudet administration needs to understand that restoration of the liaison position means reinstatement of the person laid off from the position—the focus needs to be on the position, not on replacing the person. Designating a “new” liaison, as they are calling for, would be an illegal action on the federal government’s part and likely would be challenged in court, resulting in further delays. In addition, reinstatements have been happening quickly across the federal government as the administration backtracks after finding out that certain positions are critical or required by law (example: National Nuclear Security Administration) or a judge orders reinstatements (example: probationary employees).

    For the best interests of Gallaudet and its funding, the university administration needs to focus on advocating for the full restoration of the liaison position, at ED or another department, and reinstatement of the employee. 

    The Deaf and Gallaudet communities need to band together to (1) push the Gallaudet Board of Trustees and administration to acknowledge these facts and lobby—and sue, if necessary—for this restoration and reinstatement, and (2) write to senators and representatives to advocate. 
    *

    To contact your elected official about this issue, use the letter template available here.

  • Breaking: Department of Justice Begins Rollback of ADA

    Breaking: Department of Justice Begins Rollback of ADA

    Yesterday the Department of Justice began removing guidance related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the law that protects disabled people’s rights to access and accommodations in public.

    While the law itself remains on the books, the definition of legal “access” is developed by guidance from the US Access Board. The Board, comprised of at least half disabled people, is supposed to meet annually, but their meeting was cancelled in January. Now the law is being hollowed out by the DOJ.

    The DOJ is using a January Executive Order aimed at “lowering the cost of living” as the justification for the rollback.

    That accommodating disabled people is too expensive is age-old rhetoric favored by eugenicists and Nazis, and has been used to justify segregation, institutionalization, neglect, forced sterilization, and murder of disabled people here and abroad.

    So far, 11 guidance documents have been removed, with protections ranging from self-service gas stations, customer communication, hotel accessibility, general public-facing businesses, and several pandemic-era additions. (Links are to archived content; pages have since been removed.)

    This is an ongoing story.

  • Breaking: Nearly Half the Department of Education Laid Off Tuesday, Including from Legally Mandated Positions

    Breaking: Nearly Half the Department of Education Laid Off Tuesday, Including from Legally Mandated Positions

    On Tuesday, 11 March, the Department of Education fired over 1,300 workers, nearly half of the department. Afterward, Linda McMahon told reports that legally-mandated employees, and programs protecting disabled students’ rights were not affected; however, that was a lie. In the same interview, she also revealed she did not know what IDEA stands for.

    Federal work has some in-built protections to layoffs generally, but on top of that, some of the jobs removed yesterday are legally-mandated, making it illegal for those positions to be vacant.

    The layoffs had a wide reach across departments, but it’s been confirmed that some of those removed were from OSERS, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

    OSERS oversees and funds early intervention and IDEA law, various Vocational Rehabilitation programs, and special institutions like the American Printing House for the Blind, Helen Keller National center for DeafBlind, National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and Gallaudet.

    Without a functioning department for funding and advocating for these programs, they are in danger. With respect to Gallaudet, specifically, the university has some special protections due to its Charter, but it is not immune to cuts, and there is no specific amount of funding guaranteed.

    Ultimately, this is no longer about debating various political policies anymore, but about returning to the rule of law.

    Action Items

    1. Don’t panic. There are currently many unknowns, which can be scary, but instead of spiraling you can–

    2. Call your senator. Tell them to vote NO on the budget resolution until those who are illegally fired are reinstated, and there are guardrails in place to revoke financial control to DOGE and return it to Congress, as it says in the Constitution.

    The Senate Democrats have leverage at this moment, because bipartisan effort will be required to pass the bill by Friday, so please let Senators, especially Democratic Senators know it’s past time to stand up for the rule of law.

    3. If you are in DMV area, there will be a protest outside the Department of Education building tomorrow (Thursday the 13th) starting at 1PM. Show up if you can.

    4. Spread the word. Not only will these actions harm children and society overall, but they are illegal. People in power are not above the law in this or any context.