Center for American Progress:
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 Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which provides enforcement of civil rights protections, fielded a historic 22,687 cases, with 37 percent—8,457—relating to disability, which was second only to sex discrimination. The Trump administration attempted to lay off more than 250 OCR employees in March 2025. In April, Victim Rights Law Center, a nonprofit organization, filed a lawsuit against the department and was able to get a preliminary injunction to force the department to bring staff back. In August, the administration utilized the previously mentioned Supreme Court shadow docket decision made in July to obtain a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to finalize the OCR layoffs in October. With approximately 120 employees left, if cases remained consistent with last year, the office would have to manage almost 190 cases per employee. Larger caseloads could 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 Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which provides enforcement of civil rights protections, fielded a historic 22,687 cases, with 37 percent—8,457—relating to disability, which was second only to sex discrimination. The Trump administration attempted to lay off more than 250 OCR employees in March 2025. In April, Victim Rights Law Center, a nonprofit organization, filed a lawsuit against the department and was able to get a preliminary injunction to force the department to bring staff back. In August, the administration utilized the previously mentioned Supreme Court shadow docket decision made in July to obtain a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to finalize the OCR layoffs in October. With approximately 120 employees left, if cases remained consistent with last year, the office would have to manage almost 190 cases per employee. Larger caseloads could force slowdowns in cases that already can last for years.
