Last week the US Supreme Court, without any explanation, authorized the Trump Administration, to move forward with massive cuts to the Department of Education, laying off 1,400 employees. According to the White House, the lay offs are a first step in a plan to return education authority to the states. The Department of Ed layoffs will have serious negative effects upon students with disabilities. The director of the National Center for Learning Disabilities stated that "this unprecedented move will severely hamper the department’s ability to do its essential functions like safeguarding the civil rights of students with disabilities." The Department of Ed cuts have already impacted civil rights investigations. The Department’s Office for Civil Rights handles disability discrimination complaints in schools. Seven of twelve of the civil rights offices have already been closed. According to another expert, "school districts will be further emboldened to violate the rights of students with disabilities… knowing that the Department of Education has no staff to hold them accountable." There may be even greater and more disturbing changes ahead. President Trump has frequently stated that he wants to shut down the Department of Education entirely and move special education oversight to the Department of Health and Human Services. If that were to happen HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the autism conspiracy and anti-vaccine guy himself, would be in charge of special education. Not exactly something that will enable members of the disabled community to sleep well at night! The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the cornerstone legislation that has yielded all of the advances that disabled individuals have made for the last several decades. There are 7.5 million students covered by the IDEA. The potential shift of IDEA administration to HHS has disability and special ed advocates up in arms. More than a dozen former Department of Education officials who worked with the IDEA under both Republican and Democratic administrations wrote to Congress urging legislators to maintain IDEA administration in the Department of Ed. The potential move of IDEA administration to HHS is likely illegal, but when has that stopped the Trump Administration? Further developments at the Department of Education and with IDEA need to be closely monitored by all stakeholders in the disabled community.

The White House maintains that the approximately $1 Trillion in Medicaid cuts that were made under the recently passed "One Big Beautiful Bill" will not limit home and community based care for the disabled. Health Care experts beg to differ. Under Federal Law, most of the home care and community-based services are considered optional, so when states receive less money under the overall Medicaid scheme, and states have to cut back, home care and community-based services are often targeted for cuts. The White House maintains that states can make up any funding gaps by cutting hospital reimbursements. Again, health experts report that lower hospital reimbursements will not be sufficient to make up the funding cuts for community-based and home care for the disabled. Dr. Benjamin Sommers, a Harvard professor of health care economics called the White House position wishful thinking. Once again, the Republicans are gaslighting the public and extending tax breaks to the rich at the expense of the disabled and the poor. Home care allows severely disabled people to live at home and receive the aid that they require. Community-based programs enable countless disabled individuals to live richer, meaningful and productive lives, Termination of these programs will make it difficult for many to survive and it will shutter key community programs. Read the NY Times article and SPEAK OUT. If you read the post below you will see that sometimes pressure works! TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DELAYS EFFORT TO ROLL BACK FEDERAL DISABILITY RIGHTS PROTECTIONS https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2025/07/21/trump-administration-delays-effort-to-roll-back-federal-disability-rights-protections/31546/ As part of its comprehensive effort to gut significant parts of the federal government, the Department of Energy had announced that it would rescind the requirements under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act that outline what standards newly constructed and altered buildings must meet in order to be considered accessible. The Department had announced it’s intention to make the change in May and that it would take effect July 15th unless significant adverse comments were received. Well, after more than 20,000 adverse comments, the Trump Administration is delaying the rule change until September 12, 2025. Sometimes speaking out and protesting really works, and sometimes it leads to TACO! All kidding aside, there are more than 80 regulations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act that have been a key to accessibility for the disabled over many decades. Advocates need to pay close attention to all further action by the administration in this area.