In The Politics of Autism, I write about social services, special education, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
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 turning it into a block grant, they have tried firing most of the staff who enforce it. More recently, they have shifted OSERS to HHS and OCR to the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, headed by a political hack who uses the r-word as a slur.
“I anticipate that it will become increasingly difficult for states to get both the support and the oversight that is needed,” said Stephanie Smith Lee, former director of the Office of Special Education Programs under President George W. Bush.
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But transferring special education could get a harsh rebuke this month from lawmakers on Capitol Hill who oversee IDEA and both the education and health agencies. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, promised committee member Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) in an unrelated markup after the agreements were struck, that the panel would vote on the issue.
The promise from Cassidy, who lost his bid for reelection in May after Trump endorsed a primary challenger, came after Kaine proposed an amendment to prohibit the transfer of the special education and rehabilitative services office. The Virginia Democrat withdrew the amendment after Cassidy committed to Kaine’s ask for the panel to vote on bipartisan legislation or the amendment.
“I will publicly commit to working with him for the next markup in July at finding something which is an accommodation for everyone’s concerns,” Cassidy, who doesn’t support special education being moved to HHS, said at the June 17 HELP Committee meeting. The Louisiana Republican also said he’d prefer that the Labor Department oversee the program if an agreement is struck.
Lee’s organization, along with hundreds of disability, education and civil rights groups have pressed Congress to block the transfer of special education to HHS and the Education Department’s civil rights enforcement to the Justice Department.
“State education leaders and educators⸺including both general and special educators⸺also rely on ED’s expertise, guidance, monitoring, and technical assistance; responsibilities that Congress unilaterally funds and directs the Department to provide,” the groups wrote in an open letter to lawmakers urging Congress to “reject these transfers and preserve the Department of Education’s longstanding and Congressionally mandated roles.”
