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October 24, 2025 | Vol. MMXXV | Issue 135
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In this edition:
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Appropriations & Government Shutdown |
The federal government is still shut down. Congress needs to pass either a full-year appropriations package for Fiscal Year 2026 or a continuing resolution (CR) to continue to fund the government at current spending levels for a shorter amount of time.
On October 22, the Senate voted for the twelfth time on the Republican CR, which would fund the government through November 21 at similar funding levels as the previous year (FY25). It did not have enough votes to pass. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has not called the House back in session as part of his attempt to pressure the Senate to pass the Republican CR and reopen the government. Democrats want a deal on the expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, while Republicans want to open the government first. Prior to the twelfth vote, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) spoke on the Senate floor for almost 23 hours to protest President Trump’s first nine months in office.
On October 23, the Senate voted on a Republicans bill to pay the federal workers who are still working during the shutdown. These are typically referred to as "essential" workers who are still needed to continue carrying out the bare bones operations of Congress. Democrats announced that they have a bill of their own as an alternative, which would pay all federal workers, not just the ones who are working during the shutdown. They also say that the Republican bill would empower President Trump to "pick and choose who gets to be paid and who must remain on furlough without a paycheck." Therefore, they did not vote for the Republican bill and it did not advance. Senators Jon Ossoff (GA), Raphael Warnock (GA), and John Fetterman (PA) were the only Democrats to vote for the bill. The Republican bill is the Shutdown Fairness Act (S.3012) led by Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI). The Democrat bill is the True Shutdown Fairness Act (S.3039) led by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). Senate Republicans are looking to keep the pressure on next week by holding votes on bills to pay military servicemembers, TSA employees, and air traffic controllers.
Republican Representatives Jen Kiggans (VA) and Jeff Van Drew (NJ) have led a letter with 11 other Republican lawmakers to Speaker Johnson, pushing for an extension of the ACA tax credits once the government is reopened.
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Key Takeaways |
There are several impacts that the shutdown may have on everyday Americans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is running out of funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for November as a result of the shutdown. This could affect more than 40 million low-income people, including 4 million people with disabilities. SNAP has a contingency fund that the Administration can tap into, but it won’t be able to cover the total November benefits. Twenty-five states have said they are notifying SNAP participants that they won’t receive their checks starting November 1. There is some talk of putting Senator Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) Keep SNAP Funded Act (S.3024) on the floor for a vote next week—the bill would ensure full funding for SNAP under a government shutdown.
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Plain Language |
The government is shut down right now. This means that government departments and agencies are not working. The government shut down because Congress did not pass a spending bill on time. The deadline was September 30. Congress needed to pass a government spending bill to make sure the government is funded in 2026, which is also called "appropriations." Appropriations means money that is set aside by Congress for a particular use.
The Senate voted 12 times on a continuing resolution (also called a CR), which is a funding bill that makes sure the government has enough money for a few more months. This CR was introduced by Republicans and most Democrats in Congress don't like it. The Senate keeps voting on the same bill but nothing is changing. The House of Representatives is not working right now because the Republican leader of the House, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), wants to put pressure on the Senate to pass a CR first. Before the 12th vote, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) spoke for almost 23 hours on the Senate floor. He talked about problems with what President Trump has done in his first nine months as President.
During a government shutdown, government workers don't get paid. They have to wait until the government opens up again. Republicans in Congress introduced a bill to pay some government workers who are the only ones working right now. These workers are called "essential" workers—essential means very important. Democrats voted against this bill because they have their own bill. The Democrats' bill would pay all government workers, not just the ones who are working during the shutdown. The Democrats say that the Republican bill will let the President pick and choose who gets paid and who will not get paid. Senators Jon Ossoff (GA), Raphael Warnock (GA), and John Fetterman (PA) were the only Democrats to vote for the Republican bill. The Republican bill is the
Shutdown Fairness Act (S.3012) introduced by Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI). The Democrat bill is the True Shutdown Fairness Act (S.3039) introduced by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).
Senate Republicans want to keep putting pressure on Senate Democrats to vote for the Republican CR to open the government. Next week, they plan to hold votes on bills to pay people in the military, TSA employees, and air traffic controllers. The TSA is the government
agency that works on safety in airports and other places where people travel in the U.S. Air traffic controllers work with airplane employees to plan out how they are taking off and landing, as well as make sure that airplanes follow the right paths.
Democrats want to make sure people can continue to save money on healthcare using something called "tax credits" before they agree to reopen the government. Many people are able to pay less for healthcare every month by using tax credits. A tax credit is an amount of money that people can save when they do their taxes, which happens every year. Republican Representatives Jen Kiggans (VA) and Jeff Van Drew (NJ) wrote a letter with 11 other Republican lawmakers and sent it to Speaker Johnson. The 13 people on the letter said that it was really important for Congress to work on these tax credits because otherwise, they will stop working at the end of the year.
People are worried because the government is running out of money for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is a program that helps people who don't have very much money buy food. The government needs to open again to get more money for SNAP. There are 4 million people with disabilities who use SNAP to buy food. The government has a special fund that keeps money for SNAP in case of an emergency. This money won't be enough for all of the people that need SNAP benefits. Twenty-five states have said that they are going to start letting people in their states know that they won't be able to get their November SNAP money. Some people in the Senate are talking about voting on a new bill that would get more money for SNAP. This bill is called
the Keep SNAP Funded Act and it was introduced by Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO).
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Department of Health and Human Services |
Reductions in Force – On October 15, a federal judge ruled that the Administration is not following legal requirements for conducting reductions in force (RIFs) and stopped it from carrying out layoffs during the government shutdown. A temporary restraining order (TRO) was granted, blocking the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from firing employees represented by the unions that filed the
lawsuit. HHS filed an agency declaration with the court, arguing that the 982 HHS employees who received RIF notices are not represented by the unions that filed the court case; therefore, HHS officials believe the judge’s TRO does not apply to
them. The judge clarified that those employees are actually covered by the TRO.
Next week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to bring back about 3,000 staff who were furloughed due to the shutdown. Because Affordable Care Act (ACA) open enrollment begins on November 1, CMS is finding alternative ways to pay those staff until the government reopens—to "best serve the American people amid the Medicare and [Affordable Care Act] open enrollment seasons," according to a CMS spokesperson.
Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) led a letter with 27 other Senators to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., saying that the RIFs were enacted illegally, arguing that a government shutdown does not give HHS the authority or necessity to fire workers. The Senators cited specific programs that have been subject to massive RIFs and funding cuts, including the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the Health Resources and Services Administration
(HRSA), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Food and Drug Administration – A citizen petition has been filed to request that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandate that Tylenol include a warning label on their medication that links use during pregnancy to autism. This comes on the heels of a press
conference in which President Trump, HHS Secretary Kennedy, and other HHS officials announced that prenatal use of Tylenol can cause autism, a claim unsubstantiated by evidence and widely refuted by obstetricians and other doctors. Kenvue, which manufactures Tylenol, is now urging regulators to reject the citizen petition.
Nominations – The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a hearing to consider President Trump’s nominee to serve as the Surgeon General, Casey Means, on Thursday, October 30. The Surgeon General typically educates Americans on
how to improve their health and reduce risk of illness and injury.
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Key Takeaways |
Reductions in Force – The confusion and turmoil in the federal government makes it harder for government-funded programs to get answers about how these RIFs might affect program beneficiaries. With fewer people at HHS, there are fewer points of contact for grantees, people who receive benefits, community health providers, and more.
Food and Drug Administration – Research has not proven that there is a causal relationship between acetaminophen and autism. President Trump and HHS officials depicted autism as an epidemic, a horrible condition, a "fever," and included it in a list of "chronic conditions that plague Americans." Speaking about autism and autistic people this way while amplifying debunked science about the causes of autism is dangerous and ignorant. It furthers harmful and ableist perceptions of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities while shutting out the voices of autistic individuals and ignoring their perspectives. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the World Health Organization, and other public health advocates have called these claims incorrect, reckless, and not based in science.
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Plain Language |
Reductions in Force – The White House has been firing a lot of people who work for the government. When they fire many people at once, they call it a "reduction in force" or a RIF. Many organizations are saying that this is illegal and bringing cases to court. A union is an organization that protects workers. A group of unions brought a case to court saying that the Trump Administration was illegally firing a lot of people at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The judge agreed that the RIFs were illegal and told the Administration to stop. The Administration made an announcement that they disagreed because the people they
fired were not part of the unions that brought the case to court. The judge disagreed and said those people were protected by her official decision.
It has been very confusing to figure out who has been fired and who will be brought back to work at HHS. When there aren't enough people working on healthcare issues in the government, it can affect organizations that help people with their healthcare. It can make it harder for people to get support if they are sick or have a disease. When this many employees are fired from the federal government, agencies can't do their jobs to look into situations where people are being treated badly. They can't give out money to projects and programs that need it. They can't give updates or information on how organizations need to follow policy rules. Also, they can't help people who rely on the government for money, healthcare, and other things they use in their daily
lives.
Even though the government is still shut down, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) plans on bringing about 3,000 staff back to work next week. CMS works on healthcare issues for a lot of people, including older adults and people with disabilties. These employees had been furloughed, which means that they don’t get paid and they cannot work. CMS wants to bring these employees back because people will start choosing health insurance plans soon. CMS is supposed to help people when they choose new health insurance plans starting November 1.
Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) led a letter with 27 other Senators to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. In this letter, they said that Secretary Kennedy and the Trump Administration are firing HHS employees illegally. They said that these RIFs were hurting the American people because now there are barely any people working on important issues.
Food and Drug Administration – A citizen petition is a document that a group of people put together when they want a government agency to take action on something. A group of people made a citizen petition to ask the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to change the information that is put on bottles on Tylenol, which is a drug people take for pain. This group wants the FDA to put information on Tylenol bottles that says it could give babies autism if their mothers take Tylenol while they are pregnant. This is not true information. Kenvue, the company that makes Tylenol, is asking the FDA to refuse to put this information on the bottles.
Recently, the President, HHS Secretary Kennedy, and other healthcare officials made a big announcement and said one of the causes of autism is when pregnant women take Tylenol. A lot of doctors have said that the Administration was wrong about this announcement. The people who made this announcement are in charge of health policy for the government. This is dangerous because when they make announcements that are not based on facts, people might get the wrong idea about health and medicine. The science shows that acetaminophen does not cause autism. A baby cannot get autism from their parent taking acetaminophen. A baby cannot get autism from taking acetaminophen. Doctors who take care of pregnant people and babies say that acetaminophen is safe. Talking about
autism like it is a horrible disease is not respectful to autistic people. Autistic people were not involved in making this announcement.
Nominations – President Trump chose Casey Means to be the Surgeon General. The Surgeon General gives Americans advice on how to make their health better and not get sick or hurt. On Thursday, October 30, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a hearing, which is a public meeting, to talk about Casey Means. They will talk about whether or not
they think she should be the Surgeon General.
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Department of Education
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Department Closure – The Department of Education announced in March of this year that they planned on closing the Department and moving federal oversight of special education programs to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Recently, reporting has come out about the Department of Education exploring partnerships with other federal agencies to that end.
Reductions in Force – Currently, the Department has about half the workforce it started the year with—the Trump Administration fired most of the employees in the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murry (D-WA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) led a letter with 27 other Senators to Education Secretary Linda McMahon, calling the RIFs illegal and
detrimental. The Senators express concern that students with disabilities will not be able to access services to which they are entitled. They cite the most recent round of RIFs dismantling OSEP, RSA, OCR, and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), and raise the issue of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) enforcement now that these offices have been gutted.
On October 15, a federal judge had issued a temporary restraining order stopping the Department of Education and other agencies from carrying out firings during the government shutdown. Once the shutdown ends, the Administration might try and continue to carry out RIFs. Learn more in this previous edition of Disability Policy News.
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Key Takeaways |
Department Closure – Dismantling the Department of Education, weakening the mechanisms in the Department that oversee special education and civil rights compliance, and moving special education oversight to HHS will affect students with disabilities, families, and educators. IDEA mandates that "there shall be, within the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education, an Office of Special Education Programs, which shall be the principal agency in the department for administering and carrying out this title and other programs and activities concerning the education of children with disabilities." It is
unclear how the Administration will be able to make this change without Congress amending the original law—they could run into legal challenges.
This move could weaken protections for students with disabilities and lead to segregation and stigmatization of students with disabilities. It is also concerning to broaden the jurisdiction of the HHS Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has espoused anti-vaccine rhetoric, claiming vaccines cause autism.
Reductions in Force – OSEP, OCR, and RSA are responsible for making sure that students with disabilities receive the education and services they are guaranteed under IDEA, and that people with disabilities are protected from discrimination under the Rehabilitation Act, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As RSA provides vocational rehabilitation (VR) services to people with disabilities to maximize their employment opportunities, the huge cuts to this office could mean less work towards increasing employment among people with disabilities.
Without these offices, there is no federal oversight or accountability to ensure that children with disabilities receive a free and appropriate public education, that discrimination in schools is investigated, or that state VR programs are properly administered.
Action Item: AUCD has a Quorum campaign to contact Members of Congress and demand that they take action to restore these key programs. Take 2 minutes to tell your Members of Congress to intervene: https://aucd.quorum.us/campaign/144592/
Please note—the language in this campaign constitutes lobbying as the messages directly ask Members of Congress to take specific actions. Please consider this when choosing the email you use to send the messages.
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Plain Language |
Department Closure – The Trump Administration wants to close the Department of Education. The Department of Education supports many students with disabilities and makes sure that they have protections against discrimination at school. The Department is supposed to make sure that states are doing a good job providing special education to students with disabilities. The President decided to change how the government does this. He said he would move special education from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services. This could be bad for students with disabilities because the Department of Health and Human
Services does not have the right resources to focus on special education. People are worried that this big change will mean that students with disabilities are going to have less protections in school and might get separated from students without disabilities. According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Department of Education has to have certain offices that are in charge of education for students with disabilities.
Reductions in Force – When the Administration fires many people at once, they call it a "reduction in force" or a RIF. The Department of Education has half of the employees it had at the beginning of this year. The Administration fired most of the people in these offices that support students with disabilities: the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murry (D-WA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wrote a letter with 27 other Senators to Education Secretary Linda McMahon. They say that the Administration was not following the law when they fired many people in OSEP, RSA, and OCR. The Senators are worried that students with disabilities will not be able to get the services they deserve. They are worried that there won't be enough people to work on programs that the IDEA created.
On October 15, a judge said that the Department of Education had to stop firing people during the government shutdown. Learn more in this previous edition of Disability Policy News.
Students with disabilities and their families have rights under the law, and people in many different government offices work hard to make sure schools are following that law. IDEA, the Rehabilitation Act, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are all really important laws that give people with disabilities rights. Firing the people who work at these Department of Education offices is bad because it goes against what Congress wanted when they passed these laws. Firing these people will make it harder for families to get help from the federal government when there is discrimination in schools. AUCD wants Congress to get involved and fix things as much as they can. Congress needs to help re-hire all
the people who were fired and tell the Administration that they need to follow the laws.
Read AUCD's statement on the RIFs.
Action Item: AUCD has a Quorum campaign to contact Members of Congress and tell them that they need to take action to bring back these key programs. Take 2 minutes to tell your Members of Congress to get involved: https://aucd.quorum.us/campaign/144592/
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Department of Justice
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On September 11, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the ride-hailing app Uber for discriminating against passengers with disabilities, including people who use service animals and mobility devices. The lawsuit alleges that Uber violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination based on disability by private transportation companies. The civil complaint alleges that Uber and its drivers often refuse to serve people with disabilities and charge them extra fees, among other violations. The ADA also requires Uber to allow people to bring their service animals to accompany them and to provide rides and assistance to riders
with stowable wheelchairs and mobility devices. The Department’s civil complaint seeks $125 million for people who have submitted to Uber or the Department about experiencing discrimination while using Uber.
Read the press release from the Justice Department here.
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Plain Language |
On September 11, the Department of Justice brought a case to court. They said that Uber was discriminating against people with disabilities. Uber is a company that connects people who want a ride with drivers. Discriminating means treating someone badly because of who they are. The Justice Department says that Uber did not follow the rules of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA says that transportation companies have to allow people with disabilities to go on Uber rides if they want to. The Department says that Uber and the drivers who work for Uber are refusing to drive people with disabilities. It says that Uber and its drivers are making people with
disabilities pay extra money or sometimes not allowing them to bring their service animals or wheelchairs with them. The Justice Department is asking for $125 million for people who have sent a complaint to Uber or the Department about experiencing discrimination while using Uber.
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New Legislation
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H.R.5771
Introduced by Representative Julie Johnson (D-TX)
Would ensure Social Security Administration offices that make disability determinations are fully staffed with employees to answer calls during business hours
H.R.5769
H.Res.821
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Plain Language |
There are a few new bills in the U.S. Congress.
Representative Julie Johnson (D-TX) introduced a bill to make sure that there are enough people working in the Social Security Administration offices that figure out if people with disabilities can get Social Security benefits. The bill would make sure there are enough people working at these offices so that they can answer the phone during the day.
Representative Erin Houchin (R-IN) introduced a bill that would change the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to include more about dyslexia. Dyslexia is a disability that makes it hard to read.
Representative Bruce Westerman (R-AR) introduced a bill that would make October "National Dyslexia Awareness Month."
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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.
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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.
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month! Check out our most recent blog post on disability and employment: Sean Tyree’s Journey in Competitive Integrated Employment
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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 the most recent Disability Policy for All with Liz video on the changes at the Department of Education.
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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.
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.’
Government Shutdown
When there is a government shutdown, government departments and agencies are not working. This happens when Congress does not pass a funding bill on time, usually when Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on how to fund the government. During a government shutdown, some people will keep working, especially if they keep people safe.
Citizen Petition
A citizen petition is a document that a group of people put together when they want a government agency to take action on something. People will add their names to the petition if they agree with it.
Union
A union is a group that supports workers. There are different things that workers might want, such as more money in their paycheck or better healthcare. Unions help workers talk with their workplace to make agreements.
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