July 11, 2025 | Vol. MMXXV | Issue 120

Fiscal Year 2026

As we have written about in previous issues of Disability Policy News, the President’s budget proposes getting rid of University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs). The Administration wants to combine the UCEDDs’ work with other disability programs and assign those responsibilities to the Independent Living Program. It is now up to Congress to decide how much money is given to important programs like UCEDDs.

Action Item: Use AUCD’s new "Speak Up for UCEDDs" toolkit to contact Members of Congress and state elected officials to tell them why UCEDDs are so important for people with disabilities and their families all across the country.

This toolkit includes:

• Information and resources that explain why the budget proposal is harmful for people with disabilities

• Graphics and captions for social media

• Email scripts and talking points for speaking with elected officials and their staff

On Thursday, July 10, Senate appropriators began marking up spending bills for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26). House appropriators are scheduled to start marking up FY26 spending bills on Monday. The House Appropriations Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) subcommittee has jurisdiction over funding for AUCD Network programs. The LHHS markup is currently scheduled for July 21, but as of this issue of DPN, it is likely in flux and being rescheduled. The LHHS legislation text has not yet been made public.

Plain Language

The Administration wants to get rid of UCEDDs. The Administration wants to combine the work of the UCEDDs with the work of a few other disability programs to make the Independent Living Program do that work. It is now up to Congress to decide how much money is given to important programs like UCEDDs.

Action Item: Use the resources in AUCD’s new “Speak Up for UCEDDs” toolkit to contact Members of Congress and their staff to educate them about the important work UCEDDs do. This toolkit has tools to help you speak up for people with disabilities.

Before Congress can vote on a government spending bill, committees in the House and Senate need to first review the bill. This is a process called a markup. During markup, lawmakers can look over a bill and share suggested changes. The committee then votes on these suggested changes. If the committee agrees on the suggested changes in a vote, the bill with the changes is sent to either the House or Senate for more discussion and voting.

In the Senate, Senate leaders began the markup process for next year’s government spending bills on Thursday, July 10. In the House, lawmakers want to finish their markup process for all spending bills by July 30. The bill that includes funding for AUCD Network programs has its markup planned for Monday, July 21, but it will probably be rescheduled. The bill has not been released to the public yet.

Reconciliation and Medicaid

In the aftermath of the passage of H.R.1, which was passed through the reconciliation process and includes the largest cuts to Medicaid in U.S. history, Members of Congress are looking for ways to either mitigate harms or continue making more cuts to health care.

• Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) says he was promised by Senate leadership and the White House that there would be another chance for this Congress to take up Senator Rick Scott’s (R-FL) proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion.
  
  

• Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) said that he wants to ensure that the Medicaid provider tax changes made in the reconciliation bill won’t go into effect in Missouri in 2030 as planned, even though he voted for the bill. Most states help finance their Medicaid costs by collecting taxes from health care providers. Those amounts are returned to providers in the form of higher Medicaid payments from the federal government. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that limiting or eliminating these provider taxes based on the House’s reconciliation bill would leave 3.9 million people without coverage. Learn more about provider taxes here.

Congressional Republicans are also talking about passing future reconciliation bills later in the year.

Plain Language

For the past few months, Congress has been working on passing the bills that affect how the government spends money, in a process called reconciliation. Reconciliation is usually used when one political party (either Democrat or Republican) is in charge of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Presidency. This process allows a party to pass bills even if the other party does not like them very much.

Last week, President Trump signed the bill to make it a new law. This bill includes the biggest cuts to Medicaid funding in US history. This bill will take Medicaid away from millions of people and even make it harder for people to get health insurance in other ways.

Some Members of Congress want to make more changes to healthcare. Some of the changes that Member of Congress want to make will try to fix the problems caused by healthcare cuts, but others could make things worse. Here are some examples of changes that some Republicans in Congress want to make to healthcare.

• Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin wants to vote on a plan that will take away Medicaid from more people. This was a plan created by Senator Rick Scott from Florida.
  
  

• Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri voted for the bill and the cuts to Medicaid. But now he says he wants to stop one of the Medicaid rules in the bill from happening in Missouri. Most states help pay for Medicaid by collecting taxes from hospitals and healthcare providers and asking the government to give them money depending on how much money the state gets from those taxes. The bill would tell states they couldn’t collect as much money in taxes as they currently do, which means less people would be able to get health care from Medicaid. Now, Senator Hawley says he wants to stop this change in Missouri.
  
  

Republicans in Congress are talking about passing more reconciliation bills this year. We don’t know yet what they will include, but some lawmakers want to make more health care cuts that would be bad for people with disabilities.

Trump Administration

The Supreme Court ruled that the Trump Administration can continue to carry out its reduction in force (RIF) plans, firing tens of thousands of workers across the federal government. Previously, a contingent of cities, counties, and unions had sued the Administration over their RIF plans and a district judge in California had blocked the Administration from carrying out those plans. The Administration made an emergency appeal, which the Supreme Court granted on Tuesday.

Key Takeaways

The ruling specifically addresses the Administration’s ability to carry out the President’s Executive Order from February, “Implementing The President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative.” The justices say they “express no view on the legality of any Agency RIF and Reorganization Plan produced or approved pursuant to the Executive Order and Memorandum.” The actual RIFs in various federal departments, including the RIF and agency reorganization in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will likely continue to be litigated.

Plain Language

The Supreme Court said that the Trump Administration is allowed to fire tens of thousands of workers. These big job cuts are called a “reduction in force” (RIF). Many groups tried to stop these cuts by suing the government. At first, a California judge stopped the plan, but the Supreme Court reversed the decision. This means the job cuts can now move forward. However, there are still more lawsuits that are trying to stop job cuts in certain departments, like the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Nominations and Hearings

• The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted to approve Susan Monarez to be the Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Next, the full Senate will vote on the nomination.
  
  You can watch Susan Monarez’s June 25 nomination hearing in the Senate HELP Committee here and read her testimony here.
  
  

• On Wednesday, July 16, the Senate HELP Committee will hold a nomination hearing to consider a few nominees, including Brian Christine to be Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). If confirmed, he would help lead the new Administration for a Healthy America.
  
  

• On Tuesday, July 15, the House Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee’s (HSGAC) Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a hearing called “Voices of the Vaccine Injured.”

Key Takeaways

• As President Trump’s pick to lead the CDC, Susan Monarez will likely be confirmed by the full Senate. The CDC is situated within HHS, and since he began his tenure, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has weakened the vaccine safety infrastructure at the CDC, including firing vaccine safety panel experts. Some lawmakers are pushing the CDC nominee to answer for Secretary Kennedy’s dangerous rhetoric about vaccine safety and autism. The President’s previous nominee to lead CDC, former Congressman Dave Weldon, was withdrawn when it became clear that he did not have enough Republican votes to secure a confirmation. Dr. Weldon’s vaccine skepticism was named as a significant reason why Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Susan Collins (R-ME) were concerned about his nomination.
  
  Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released a press release detailing her interactions with Dr. Monarez and her concerns about what actions Secretary Kennedy has already taken to weaken vaccine safety infrastructure at the CDC.
  
  

• The Administration plans to move jurisdiction of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Programs to the new Administration for a Healthy America.
  
  

• The Chair of HSGAC’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), who has repeatedly questioned the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine and spread anti-vaccine misinformation.

Plain Language

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee is a committee of Senators that work on laws and make decisions about topics like health care, education, and jobs. On Wednesday, the HELP Committee voted to make Susan Monarez the next leader of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Next, the full Senate will vote on whether or not to confirm her. The CDC is a government agency that keep people healthy by giving advice on things like vaccines and responding to public health emergencies. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has made a lot of bad changes at the CDC. He has fired vaccine safety experts and shrunk programs that make sure vaccines are safe.

On July 16, the HELP Committee will decide on whether Brian Christine will become the Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS. If the HELP Committee votes to confirm him, the next step will be for the Senate to vote on whether or not to confirm him. If he becomes the Assistant Secretary for Health, he will help lead a new agency in HHS called the Administration for a Healthy America. The Administration plans to move the LEND Programs under this new agency.

On July 15, a committee in the House is holding a “Voice of the Vaccine Injured” hearing. This hearing will be led Senator Ron Johnson, who has shared anti-vaccine views in the past. There is concern that this hearing may spread more false or harmful information about vaccines.

AUCD Story Collection

AUCD is collecting stories from the Network on a variety of topics to amplify the effects of this Administration on real people and our programs. If you have a story, we want to hear it. 

We are interested in stories about: 

• Medicaid and its impact on people's lives 

• The impact of dismantling ACL 

• The important work of UCEDDs, LENDs, IDDRCs, PNS’s, DD Councils, P&As

• The impact of zeroing out UCEDDs, LENDs, IDDRCs, PNS’s, DD Councils, P&As  

• Impact of grants that are being cut
  

• Stories responding to RFK Jr.’s claims about autism or the autism registry 

You can use this link to provide information and let us know if you are comfortable sharing your story with Members of Congress and their staff. 

AUCD Policy Blog

AUCD invites Network members to fill out this form if you’re interested in writing for the AUCD policy blog. We are open to a variety of issues areas, and we will follow up with you as relevant issues come up that we’d like you to write about. 

Check out our most recent blog, “A Nurse’s Training and a Mother’s Heart: Why I’m Speaking Out Against H.R.1,” written by Gloria Smith, Registered Nurse and Medical Support Coordinator at Delta Community Supports, and parent of a son with Emery-Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy.

Disability Policy for All with Liz

Join Liz on Instagram Reels, where she provides plain language updates on policy, highlighting current issues and hot topics in federal disability policy.

Liz Weintraub is AUCD's Senior Advocacy Specialist and the host of “Disability Policy for All with Liz.” She has extensive experience practicing leadership in self-advocacy and has held many board and advisory positions at state and national organizations, including the Council on Quality & Leadership (CQL) and the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council.

Watch Liz’s most recent video on recently-passed reconciliation bill and its historic cuts to Medicaid.

Words to Know

Reconciliation 

This is a process of passing bills that affects how the government spends money. It is unique because usually, you need more people to vote ‘yes’ for a bill. With reconciliation, you don’t need as many lawmakers to vote ‘yes.’ This is why reconciliation is usually used when lawmakers in one political party (either Democrat or Republican) want to pass bills they know the other political party wouldn’t like very much. They can do this when there is the same political party in charge of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Presidency. 

Markup

This is a process where a group of lawmakers in Congress review a bill and talk about the changes they want to make to it. These changes to the bill are called amendments. During markup, lawmakers suggest changes and then vote on each change. This happens in a smaller group called a committee. Both the Senate and the House will have a committee, which includes Senators or Representatives from the bigger group. Once markup is done and the bill passes the vote, the bill goes to the full Senate or House for more discussion and voting.