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September 12, 2025 | Vol. MMXXV | Issue 129 |
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In this edition:
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FY26 Appropriations |
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Both the Senate Committee on Appropriations and the House Committee on Appropriations have marked up their Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bills and passed them out of committee.
Senate: Senate Full Committee Markup of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Acts (S.2587)
Substantial bipartisan work went into this bill, and it passed out of committee 26-3. The legislation funds the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) at $116.6 billion—a $446 million increase in discretionary funds. You can read the Senate’s bill text and report language.
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$43.1 million to UCEDDs (flat funding)
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$56.3 million to Autism and Other Developmental Disorders (flat funding)
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$1.7 billion to National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (where IDDRCs are housed) (increase of $20 million)
House: House Full Committee Markup of Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Bill
The bill was passed out of committee 11-7, along party lines—only Republicans voted to advance it. The legislation appropriates $108.6 billion for HHS, a decrease of $6.8 billion. You can read the House’s bill text and report language.
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$43.1 million to UCEDDs (flat funding)
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$57.3 million to Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities Programs (increase of $1 million)
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$1.7 billion to NICHD (increase of $20 million)
During the markup, many amendments were introduced. Democratic lawmakers pushed for votes on amendments that would restore funding to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) programs, prevent HHS from changing the childhood vaccine schedule, and more. These amendments were unsuccessful. Others were adopted, including Representative Lois Frankel’s (D-FL) amendment to prevent appropriated funds from being used to reduce the availability of phone services for social security beneficiaries or to close any social security field offices. Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) introduced an amendment that would prevent appropriated funds from being used to implement the Department of Labor’s proposed rule to revise regulations implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act—it was not adopted. You can read the Republican press release on the markup here.
Congress: Now that the Senate bill and House bill have passed out of their respective committees, they will have to be debated and voted on in each chamber. Funding to keep the government open runs out on September 30. To avoid a government shutdown, Congress must approve a new government funding package for FY26 or pass a continuing resolution (CR) that keeps the government operating on current funding levels for a specified period. The timeline is very tight, and there may not be enough time to pass a full spending bill before the deadline. There is a lot of disagreement among appropriators and the White House and different factions within both parties—the White House asked for a stopgap funding bill that would fund the government until January 31, but many Congressional appropriators want a CR that would fund the government until mid-November. |
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Key Takeaways |
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We expect a “clean” CR, which is a continuing resolution that funds the government at the previous fiscal year’s spending levels without any changes to policy or additions of new spending. In essence, it’s a bipartisan, temporary funding measure to keep government agencies operating when the formal appropriations process is incomplete, preventing a shutdown by extending existing funding and programs.
Action Item - If you met with Congressional staff in the last several months, emailed with them, or hosted a Member of Congress, send a thank you. You can find your House Representative here and your Senators here, including their contact information. |
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Plain Language |
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Congress needs to pass a government spending bill to make sure the government is funded in 2026. Before Congress can vote on that bill, committees in the House and Senate need to first review it. This is a process called a markup and the committees are called appropriations committees. Appropriations means money that is set aside by Congress for a particular use. The appropriations process happens once a year. Money is sometimes requested by the President’s Administration or by Congress for a specific use.
Right now, Congress is in the middle of its appropriations process for 2026 funding. The Senate and the House both have committees that work on appropriations. Within those committees, they have special groups (called subcommittees) that focus on how much money government programs get. The Senate Appropriations Committee passed their 2026 appropriations bill, which gives more money than usual to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including programs in the AUCD Network: University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs), Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Programs, and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers (IDDRCs). The Senate bill was bipartisan, which means it was supported by both Democrats and Republicans. The House Appropriations Committee passed their appropriations bill too. They cut a lot of funding for programs in HHS. The House bill was passed by only Republicans, so it was not bipartisan.
Both the Senate and House rejected the President’s Budget proposal to get rid of funding for UCEDDs and make big changes to HHS departments and agencies, which is a good sign.
There is still more work to do:
- The full Senate still needs to vote on their bill and the full House still needs to vote on their bill, so we need to make sure every Senator and Representative knows that we want the bills to pass.
- After both the Senate and the House agree on their spending bills, they will need to work together to make one final bill.
Watch this Disability Policy for All with Liz video on updates on the FY26 appropriations process.
Action Items – If you met with staff from Congress in the last several months, emailed with them, or hosted a Member of Congress, send a thank you. You can find your House Representative here and your Senators here, including their contact information. |
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Department of Health and Human Services |
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Make America Healthy Again Report – Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. released his Make American Healthy Again Report this week. It includes now-familiar references to cracking down on ultra-processed foods, removing fluoride from public water systems, criticism of past vaccine recommendations, and combating chronic disease. The report lists almost 130 recommendations and calls for more studies into chronic disease and other policy priorities for Secretary Kennedy. In keeping with the Secretary’s stated interest in autism research, the report includes in its “next steps” section a recommendation to “[e]xpand the NIH-CMS [National Institutes of Health-Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] autism data initiative into a broader, secure system linking claims, EHRs, and environmental inputs to study childhood chronic diseases.” It cites increasing autism diagnosis rates and suggests links between autism and food dyes or environmental toxins.
Autism Study – Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Secretary Kennedy’s upcoming autism report will include the claim that some potential causes of autism include low levels of folate and Tylenol when people take it during pregnancy. This week, Bloomberg reported that Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Chief Marty Makary said the WSJ piece was premature, and the autism report hasn’t been written yet but that it will be released “within a month.” KFF Health News has a roundup of a few articles on this topic, which you can read here.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) – On September 9, CMS released preliminary guidance for state compliance with new federal payment limits for State Directed Payments (SDPs) in Medicaid. The majority of Medicaid beneficiaries are enrolled in managed care organizations (MCOs), which state Medicaid agencies pay to manage the health care delivery systems for Medicaid beneficiaries in their state. SDPs vary by state, and they require MCOs to pay health care providers (such as doctors and hospitals) according to state-specific rates. Low payment rates mean MCOs pay less money to health care providers, which contributes to financial instability—this is especially problematic for safety net providers, such as essential hospitals who serve anyone who needs healthcare, regardless of their income or insurance. The reconciliation bill (H.R.1)—also known as the One Big, Beautiful Bill—includes a provision that directs CMS to “reduce the payment limit for the total payment rate for state directed payments (SDP) for inpatient hospital services, outpatient hospital services, nursing facility services, and qualified practitioner services at an academic medical center.” CMS is preparing a notice of proposed rulemaking to begin implementation of this provision. |
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Key Takeaways |
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MAHA Report & Autism Study – In May, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and CMS had announced that NIH would be building a data platform that will aggregate existing data to study the root causes of autism. Advocates continue to be concerned that the government is compiling data without the consent of the autistic individuals they plan on studying. This raises significant legal and ethical concerns; the press release announcing this data platform said that it would enable “advanced research across claims data, electronic medical records, and consumer wearables”—all of these constitute data that is not necessarily voluntarily given to the federal government. Autism advocates and researchers have consistently spoken out against Secretary Kennedy’s unfounded suggestions that rates of autism spectrum disorder are booming due to environmental and pharmaceutical factors, like vaccines. The Secretary continues to promote misinformation about causes of autism, when evidence has shown that autism is genetic.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services – Reducing the payment rate limit means reducing how much states can direct MCOs to pay hospitals or nursing facilities, which could lead to fewer people being able to access to health care. State directed payments were established so that states could try and improve quality of care for Medicaid beneficiaries and make sure that hospitals and clinics can stay open and continue to provide care to everyone who needs it. The federal government’s new limits on the payment rate will mean that most states will need to reduce payments to hospitals or nursing facilities, who then might be forced “to offer fewer services or reduce the quality of care to work with the reduced payment rates expected under the bill, and in some cases, may be unable to remain open.” This is just one of the many ways that H.R.1 takes away Medicaid funding from people and communities who need it. |
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Plain Language |
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Reports and Autism – Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. released his Make America Healthy Again Report this week. The report has a lot of things that Secretary Kennedy has been talking about. He wants to change things so that there aren’t certain things in some foods that could make people sick. He wants to change the advice that the government gives to the public about vaccines. The report talks about autism and HHS’ autism study. The Department of Health and Human Services was going to make a list of everyone in the country who has autism. They were going to get this information from a lot of different places. Autistic people were not asked about whether they wanted to be part of it or not. Then later, the National Institutes of Health said they were not going to make the list anymore. The federal government has still not made it totally clear about what their plan is, but the Make America Healthy Again Report says that the government should still get a lot of information about autistic people from a bigger system. This would mean that autistic people would not really be able to decide what information gets shared.
Secretary Kennedy has announced that he is working on an autism study that will find out the cause of autism. The Wall Street Journal has an article that says that Secretary Kennedy’s autism report will say that one of the causes of autism might be when pregnant women take Tylenol, which is a medicine that helps with pain. However, some people in the Administration say that the report hasn’t even been written yet and won’t come out for another month. There is a lot of focus on the cause of autism, but autism is not a bad thing. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) has said this: “Autism is a developmental disability — and disability is a natural part of human diversity. Autism is something we are born with, and that shouldn’t be changed. Autistic children should get the support they need to grow up into happy, self-determined autistic adults.” Diversity means different kinds of people who look different from each other or have different life experiences.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) – On September 9, CMS released some guidance for states about changes to Medicaid. Some definitions:
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Medicaid managed care organizations help people with Medicaid get the right services and health care
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State directed payments are payments that many hospitals, doctors, nursing homes, and clinics get from managed care organizations to make sure they can provide quality health care to many people who need it
In July, H.R.1 was passed into law—it’s also called the reconciliation bill or the One Big, Beautiful Bill. It made many changes to Medicaid and takes away a lot of money from Medicaid. One of the changes it made was to state directed payments. It set a limit for how much states can ask managed care organizations to pay to doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, and other places that people get health care through Medicaid. This new guidance from CMS explains how states will need to change how they do their state directed payments programs. This could be bad for older adults and people with disabilities because health care providers, like hospitals or nursing homes, might not have enough money to help as many people as before H.R.1 was law. |
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Congressional Hearings |
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Senate HELP Committee – On Wednesday, September 17, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a hearing with Dr. Susan Monarez, former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director, and Dr. Deb Houry, the former Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Program and Science at CDC. The hearing, “Restoring Trust Through Radical Transparency: Reviewing Recent Events at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Implications for Children’s Health,” will center on the recent events at CDC and Secretary Kennedy’s recent actions undermining health and safety during his time at HHS. Dr. Monarez was fired by Secretary Kennedy and Dr. Houry resigned subsequently.
House Committee on Ways & Means – On September 9, the Ways & Means Subcommittees on Social Security and Work & Welfare held a joint hearing on disability employment entitled “Untapped Talent in America: Removing Barriers to Work and Supporting Opportunity for Individuals with Disabilities.” The hearing highlighted barriers to employment and career advancement for people with disabilities, challenges for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries to keep their essential benefits while staying employed, and the benefits of vocational rehabilitation.
Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) – On September 9, the HSGAC Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing entitled “How the Corruption of Science Has Impacted Public Perception and Policies Regarding Vaccines.” 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. In July, HSGAC's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing called “Voices of the Vaccine Injured.” |
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Key Takeaways |
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House Committee on Ways & Means – Both Republican and Democrat Members of the panel emphasized the importance of expanding employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Witnesses and Members agreed that a big barrier to work is lack of awareness of Social Security Administration (SSA) programs like the Ticket to Work program, and cited hesitancy of people with disabilities to try to get employment because they’re worried that they will lose their benefits, even though there are programs that would help them keep their benefits. They also said that work incentives are underutilized, including Medicaid Buy-In (which not every state has).
Witnesses emphasized the need to increase the SSI asset limit—$2,000 for individuals—which was set over 40 years ago. Representative Danny Davis (D-IL) highlighted his and Representative Brian Fitzpatrick’s (R-PA) bipartisan SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act (H.R.2540), which would raise asset limits to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for married couples, and permanently index them to inflation so that these limits will increase to match inflation rates. The bill’s companion legislation in the Senate (S.1234) was introduced by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NM).
Democratic lawmakers also noted that under the Trump Administration, massive layoffs at SSA and cancellation of federal grants have affected the ability of SSA to carry out its support services and have caused longer wait times for services. They also cited H.R.1’s expected devastating effects on the health of people with disabilities, which will undermine their ability to work.
One of the witnesses was Sean Tyree, a research aide and self-advocate at the University of Kansas Center on Disabilities (KUCD), a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. He and other witnesses highlighted the importance of vocational rehabilitation and ABLE accounts for people with disabilities. Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) touted his Ensuring Nationwide Access to Better Life Experience (ENABLE) Act (H.R.1436) with Representative Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), which would maintain and strengthen the tax provisions supporting ABLE accounts.
Representative Davis mentioned that SSA is considering revoking a public assistance household rule, which could take benefits away from hundreds of thousands of people. You can read more about how rescinding the “Expand the Definition of a Public Assistance Household” rule could take SSI away from hundreds of thousands of older adults and people with disabilities in this past issue of Disability Policy News.
Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) – Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) raised concerns about Secretary Kennedy’s actions and statements that are not based in science and have undermined vaccine safety. He cited the changes at the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and entered into the Congressional Record a report by the Democratic Members and staff of the HSGAC subcommittee entitled “Trump Administration Attacks on Scientific Integrity.” The report cites Secretary Kennedy’s autism study collaboration with vaccine skeptic David Geier and the layoffs of hundreds of scientists and public health workers at CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. |
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Plain Language |
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Senate HELP Committee – On Wednesday, September 17, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a hearing with Dr. Susan Monarez, who was the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Secretary Kennedy fired Dr. Monarez recently. She said it was because she didn’t agree with him and his team’s vaccine recommendations. Another person who worked at CDC, Dr. Deb Houry, will testify at this hearing. The hearing is called “Restoring Trust Through Radical Transparency: Reviewing Recent Events at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Implications for Children’s Health.” It will be about the recent events at CDC and some of the problems at HHS.
House Committee on Ways & Means – On Wednesday, September 9, the Ways & Means committee had a hearing about employment for people with disabilities. It was called “Untapped Talent in America: Removing Barriers to Work and Supporting Opportunity for Individuals with Disabilities.” One of the witnesses was Sean Tyree, a research aide and self-advocate at the University of Kansas Center on Disabilities (KUCD), a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. KUCD is a member of AUCD’s Network.
Here are some topics they talked about in the hearing:
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The Social Security Administration has many programs that help people with disabilities keep their benefits and also work. Programs like Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance are important for many people with disabilities to pay for things like groceries, rent, and transportation.
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The Ticket to Work program and ABLE accounts are both helpful for people with disabilities who want to work and save money while keeping their benefits. Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA) and Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) have a bill called the Ensuring Nationwide Access to Better Life Experience (ENABLE) Act. It would make sure people can keep their ABLE accounts in the future.
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Supplemental Security Income has a limit for how much money people can have. This can make it very hard to feel like you have enough money to pay for things. Representatives Danny Davis (D-IL) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NM) have a bill called the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act. This bill would increase how much money people can have on SSI to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for married couples.
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The Trump Administration fired many people at the Social Security Administration and canceled a lot of funding. This made it harder for the Social Security Administration to help people with disabilities and older adults.
Homeland Security & Government Affairs (HSGAC) – This committee had a hearing on Wednesday, September 9 about science and vaccines. It was called “How the Corruption of Science Has Impacted Public Perception and Policies Regarding Vaccines.” The person in charge of the hearing, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), has said that vaccines hurt people. He is especially very concerned that the COVID-19 vaccine could be bad for people. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) talked about how vaccines are very important and they keep people healthy and safe. Senator Blumenthal said that Secretary Kennedy has said some things about vaccines that are not true and that make people think they shouldn’t get vaccines. Senator Blumenthal and other Democrats on the committee have a new report called “Trump Administration Attacks on Scientific Integrity” which mentions the autism study that Secretary Kennedy is doing. |
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Vaccines |
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Trump Social Media Post – President Trump shared a video on social media that shows David Geier alongside his father, Dr. Mark Geier, whose medical license was suspended following claims he endangered children with autism, talking about thimerosal and perpetuating debunked claims about thimerosal causing autism. Secretary Kennedy hired David Geier to work on his autism study—this statement from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) lays out some of the concerns that disability advocates have about this study.
Senator Sanders “Vaccines Work” Press Conference – On Tuesday, September 9, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) held a press conference to spread information about how and why vaccines work. He was joined by members of organizations representing doctors and medical experts:
- Dr. Georges Benjamin, American Public Health Association — representing 450 public health organizations and 23,000 individual members
- Dr. Woodie Kessel, Doctors for America — representing more than 40,000 physicians and health care professionals
- Dr. Roger Mitchell, National Medical Association — representing more than 50,000 African American physicians and professionals
COVID-19 Vaccine Guidance – The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) released their own COVID-19 vaccine recommendations in contrast to the federal government’s guidance. AAFP is recommending that adults 18 and older, children, and pregnant women receive COVID-19 vaccines, while Secretary Kennedy has removed COVID-19 vaccines from the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule for healthy children and pregnant women. The AAFP also called for the President to reconsider Secretary Kennedy’s ability to serve as HHS Secretary. |
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Key Takeaways |
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Getting a COVID vaccine this year may be made more complicated by Secretary Kennedy’s actions and lack of clarity. From Politico:
“At least 18 states and Washington, D.C. tie their pharmacists’ vaccination authority to the official recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, whose membership Kennedy overhauled in June to include several skeptics…Without an official recommendation, pharmacists told POLITICO that residents of those jurisdictions may not be able to get vaccinated at neighborhood pharmacies, which have played the primary role in delivering the shots since early 2021. Nearly 90 percent of Covid vaccine doses during the 2024-2025 season nationally were given at pharmacies, according to CDC data.”
People with disabilities were disproportionately impacted by COVID during the pandemic, so accessibility to vaccines is vital for their health and safety. ACIP is scheduled to meet September 18 and 19, which will be closely watched by advocates to see what vaccine recommendations are made by the panel. |
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Plain Language |
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President Trump shared a video on social media that showed two people saying that there was something in some vaccines that could cause autism. This isn’t true, and it’s not good that the President was posting this video. The two people are Dr. Mark Geier–who has done dangerous experiments on autistic children and said that autistic people could be cured–and his son, David Geier.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) hosted a press conference to talk about why vaccines are important. He invited many doctors to speak about vaccines and how they save people’s lives. Senator Sanders and the doctors said that Secretary Kennedy and President Trump have been saying some things about vaccines that are not true. There is a doctors’ organization that said the same thing. This organization is called the American Academy of Family Physicians. They released their own advice about COVID-19 vaccines that is different from the federal government. They also said that they don’t think Secretary Kennedy should be in the job he is in. Being Secretary of Health is a very powerful job and they think he is doing a lot of damage. It could be harder for people to get COVID-19 vaccines this year because of the changes that Secretary Kennedy made to official vaccine guidance. People could get sick or die because of the advice he is giving. People with disabilities were hurt by COVID-19 more than people without disabilities, so advocates are especially worried that the government make things hard for them again.
Secretary Kennedy said things about autistic people that are disrespectful and not true. He defended a person he hired who has done dangerous studies on autistic children and said that autistic people could be cured. Autistic people do not need to be cured, they should be supported and listened to. Autism is a genetic disability, which means autistic people are born autistic. Many studies have proven this, so it is concerning that Secretary Kennedy keeps saying that he wants to find out the cause of autism. He has said things that show that he thinks there are other causes, which is not true. |
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Department of Energy |
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The Department of Energy (DOE) extended the effective date for their direct final rule rescinding new construction accessibility standards by another 90 days. The rule is delayed until December 10, 2025. Originally, in May, DOE had announced a direct final rule to rescind requirements under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act related to accessibility in newly constructed and altered buildings. DOE said that it would rescind those requirements on July 15 unless they received “significant adverse comments within weeks.” The Department received more than 20,000 comments in opposition to this rule change, and therefore had decided to extend the effective date of the direct final rule until September 12, 2025. Read more about the rule here. |
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Key Takeaways |
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Because people with disabilities and advocates spoke up and submitted such a significant amount of comments, the Department has had to push back their effective date for this rule to take effect twice now. |
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Plain Language |
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In May, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said it wanted to remove a rule that makes sure new buildings are accessible to people with disabilities. This rule says that buildings built using money from the federal government should be easy for people with disabilities to use and enter. At first, DOE said it would remove the rule on July 15. But thousands of people across the country spoke up and sent messages saying this was a bad idea. Because of this feedback from people, the Department decided to wait until September 12 to start the rule. Now, because people with disabilities and advocates spoke up again, the Department is waiting longer to make this rule happen. It will start on December 10.
Some people in the Administration say the rule is not needed. They think the rule makes building too hard for businesses. But disability advocates are worried. Removing the rule could lead to buildings being built that are not accessible for people with disabilities. Advocates are also worried that the government made this change quickly. This gave people less time to respond and advocate. Usually, for these types of rule changes, the government takes a lot more time to hear what people think about a change to a rule—sometimes it takes years. If the faster process the Department is using now is allowed, it could lead to this happening again in the future with other disability rules. |
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Department of Education |
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The Department of Education is canceling millions of dollars in grants for programs under Part D of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). These grants, funded through the Department’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and Rehabilitation Services Administration, go towards special education teacher training, parent resource centers, Braille and interpreter training, and other important services. The Department said that the programs did not align with the Administration’s policy priorities, and “cited language in the funding applications referencing diversity, equity, inclusion, racism and similar.” |
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Key Takeaways |
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Many students, families, and educators were relying on this funding. State education departments have designed programs that utilize the funding to support students with disabilities and their families. Canceling this funding in the middle of a grant cycle is completely unprecedented and will leave communities in the lurch.
Many grants and programs have been targeted by the Administration because they include mention of diversity, equity, or inclusion (DEI). Despite the Administration’s hostility towards these terms, diversity, equity, and inclusion are positive values in the disability community and other marginalized communities. They refer to the range of needs within the community and the importance of creating a world where people with disabilities have access to the same places and resources as nondisabled people. Fighting for inclusion has been key to the enormous strides that disability advocates have made in making our world more accessible. The word “inclusion” is also present in many laws and statutes, meaning that it is necessary to keep inclusion in that work. |
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Plain Language |
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The Department of Education is canceling millions of dollars for programs that help students with disabilities. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has a part called Part D. Part D gives money to programs that help train special education teachers and support parents of students with disabilities. The Trump Administration is canceling the money because they mention “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Equity means everyone having access to the same resources, places, and information. Inclusion means including people in society. The Trump Administration has done a lot of things to stop programs that work on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Communities need this money. This is a big change, and the Department of Education doesn’t usually do this. |
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New Legislation
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Plain Language |
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There are a few new bills in the U.S. Congress.
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The Supporting Our Seniors Act would create a commission, which is a group of people with a mission. This commission would study long-term care and how to help people with disabilities and older adults who need it.
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The HCBS Worker Protection Act would support home care workers to get benefits.
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AUCD Story Collection |
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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:
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Medicaid and its impact on people's lives
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The impact of dismantling ACL
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The important work of UCEDDs, LENDs, IDDRCs, PNS’s, DD Councils, P&As
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The impact of zeroing out UCEDDs, LENDs, IDDRCs, PNS’s, DD Councils, P&As
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Impact of grants that are being cut
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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. |
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AUCD Policy Blog |
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AUCD invites Network members to fill out this form if you’re interested in writing for the AUCD policy blog. Right now, we would love to hear from experts in our Network who want to write about education and the upcoming 50th anniversary of the IDEA. |
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Disability Policy for All with Liz |
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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 updates on FY26 appropriations. |
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Words to Know |
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Appropriations
This is money that is set aside by Congress for a particular use. The appropriations process happens once a year. Money is sometimes requested by the President’s Administration or by Congress for a specific use.
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 have committees, which include Senators or Representatives from the bigger group. Once markup is done in these committees and the committee votes to approve the bill, it goes to the full Senate or House for more discussion and voting.
Bipartisan
When something is bipartisan, it is supported by both Democrats and Republicans. Bills that are bipartisan are more likely to become laws.
Continuing Resolution
This is an agreement to fund the government for a short amount of time. This agreement usually lasts for less than a year. It is sometimes called a ‘CR.’
Vaccine
Vaccines are shots that doctors, nurses, and other people who work in health care give people to keep us from getting sick. |
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