- Linda McMahon’s DoED Nomination Advances
- The HELP Committee voted along party lines, advancing Linda McMahon to the full Senate for her confirmation as Secretary of DoED.
- Trump has promised major cuts to the department via Executive Order once McMahon is in place.
- Three active bills to abolish the department are also currently in Congress.
- DoED funds and oversees a variety of disability-specific programs and grants, and protects disabled students rights to attend public schools. Read our full explainer on DoED here.
- Funding Cuts for DoED Now at $502 Million and Counting
- Cuts to staffing and research grants continue as GOP promises more layoffs
- “Evaluation of Transition Supports for Youth with Disabilities” was one such cut, a program that gave money to states to help support disabled students graduating from high school acquire jobs and transition to independent living
- Mass Layoffs Hit Disabled Veterans Hard
- Over 200,000 federal workers have been laid off since January, More than 15% of the federal workforce is made up of disabled veterans.
- 1000 workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs were also fired this week, making it harder for veterans to access their health and mental healthcare, and other services.
- Texas vs. Beccera Lawsuit on Hold; AGs Refuse to Come Clean about Scope of the Complaint
- On Wednesday, involved parties wrote to the judge asking for more time to evaluate their case, and claiming they did not seek to declare Section 504 unconstitutional.
- The letter still takes aim at Final Rule’s spending guidance for independent living, which could affect disabled people’s rights to live in-community. They also continue to use transphobic rhetoric to attack Final Rule.
- Despite reassurances, the original filing does explicitly ask for 504 to be declared unconstitutional (p 37-42). We also should not make concessions on basic rights for any humans. See all our Texas v. Beccera resources here.
- House Budget Takes Aim at Medicaid, SNAP
- The House presented a budget bill that would require $880 billion in cuts from the Energy and Commerce Committee, who oversees Medicaid. Medicaid provides healthcare for 70 million disabled and low-income Americans,
- On Wednesday, Trump endorsed the bill, after previously saying he wouldn’t touch the program.
- SNAP, the program that provides financial assistance specifically for buying food, is also under threat.
- Executive Order “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies”
- Consolidates power under the President by taking it away from independent agencies. Says the President has the final say, including budgetary, over all parts of the Executive branch.
- From a disability perspective, the future of the Federal Communications Commission is of concern. The FCC currently oversees and disburses funds for things like closed captions, captioned phone calls and text and video relay.
- This move is a key tenet of Project 2025. Expanding the powers of the President and weakening checks and balances is dangerous for the health of any democracy.
- Threats to Special Education at the State Level
- Indiana HB 1136 appoints state governing boards over local community boards, and targets schools for charter conversion, which could harm disabled students’ services and weaken IEP oversight.
- Alabama State 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.
- See our friends at Fighting for My Voice for a state-level education policy tracker
- Some Good News
- After feedback from advocates, Indiana’s SB473 was revised to include ASL and all language options for deaf children’s early intervention programming. Previously the bill protected spoken language only.
- Connecticut’s State Legislature is expected to approve $40 million in additional funds for special education in a vote next week
Take Action
- Share this info. Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.
- Call your Senator and ask them to vote NO on the McMahon nomination and protect DoED.
- If your state is involved, contact your Attorney General and ask them to drop out of Texas v. Beccera. Tell them you stand in solidarity with all disabled people, as well as trans folks. If your state isn’t involved, you can still call and ask them to protect Section 504.
- Write/call your Congresspeople and tell them to fight for Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, and Social Security. Entitlements are taxpayer money!
- Keep an eye on your state legislatures and make sure they are not complying in advance!
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