In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the issue's role in presidential politics. Many posts have discussed Trump's bad record on disability issues. As his words and actions have shown, he despises Americans with disabilities. He told his nephew Fred that severely disabled people -- such as Fred's son -- should "just die."
Project 2025 proposed to turn IDEA into a "no strings" block grant, effectively gutting the law and destroying protections that disability families have long relied upon. During the 2024 race, Trump denied any connection to the project, but now he proclaims it, praising OMB director Russ Vought "of Project 2025 fame."
Trump and Vought are now accomplishing their goal of ravaging the law. Instead of shifting it to a block grant, they are firing most of the staff who enforce it. A judge has temporarily paused the attack, but the administration will likely find ways to ignore or circumvent the order.
Zachary Schermele at USA TODAY:
During her confirmation hearing in February, [Education Secretary Linda] McMahon agreed with several senators, including Hassan, about the need for special education services. While she suggested they could be better overseen by an agency other than hers, namely the Department of Health and Human Services, she still stressed that she "wanted to make sure that students with special education needs had those needs met," Hassan recalled.
The education secretary continues to insist special education is a priority of hers. Still, [Sen. Maggie] Hassan said she feels lied to. "By taking the actions they have, it indicates to me that she wasn’t being truthful in her testimony," she said. "Or she didn’t understand the full scope of special education services."
...
Though the lion's share of IDEA funding was already disbursed this school year, nearly everyone in charge of its oversight and administration was laid off, USA TODAY has reported. More than 120 workers were let go from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, the Education Department stated in recently-filed court documents. Should states or schools have issues in the coming weeks and months drawing down the money they need, they'll be turning to staffers whose jobs are now in legal limbo.
Same goes for schools that have questions about the technicalities of IDEA, or, in many cases, parents looking to file a civil rights complaint. Nearly 140 employees in the Office for Civil Rights were fired, too. (Most investigations in that office are about disability-related discrimination.)
