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
