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.
The acting inspector general at the Education Department is being replaced for the second time this year, and the watchdog’s new leader is an IG official who seems to have shared social media posts supporting Donald Trump.
Mark Priebe will be the new acting Education IG, according to a 30-day notice sent to Congress on Nov. 7. He has been the director of the Non-Federal Audit Team at the Education IG office since 2017 and previously worked as an auditor at the Housing and Urban Development Department and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, according to his LinkedIn.
The president is permitted to replace an acting IG, but he is limited to selecting an individual who is currently working in an IG office.
An X account that appears to belong to Priebe occasionally shared messages from other accounts that back Trump including:
The Education IG position opened up after Trump fired Sandra Bruce in January along with 16 other agency watchdogs. Deputy Education IG René Rocque then became acting IG, but she was replaced this summer after notifying Congress that officials were stonewalling an investigation into staff reductions that have halved the department’s workforce.
