March 20, 2026 | Vol. MMXXVI | Issue 153

In this edition:

• Department of Homeland Security

• President Trump Remarks on Learning Disabilities

• Medicaid and Medicare Hearing

• National Institutes of Health Hearing

• Vaccines

• New Legislation

• AUCD Materials

• Words to Know

Department of Homeland Security

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) Committee held a confirmation hearing to consider the nomination of Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), President Trump’s new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) nominee after Kristi Noem was ousted. The committee advanced Senator Mullin’s nomination, and the full Senate will vote on his nomination next—potentially next week. He will need a simple majority to be confirmed.

Congress has been working on passing a funding bill for DHS, which has been shut down for a little over a month. In February, Congress passed appropriations legislation for all other federal agencies except for DHS, so it was funded via a short-term stopgap bill called a continuing resolution (CR). Since then, appropriators have been working on a compromise bill to satisfy both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, as well as President Trump.

Key Takeaways

The Department of Homeland Security contains many different federal agencies and programs, including CBP, ICE, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services, and many more. Workers under these agencies are often expected to keep working, since they are working in the service of the nation’s security, but they have been missing paychecks due to the government’s lapse in funding. People with disabilities are likely to be affected by slowed security checkpoints overseen by TSA, delayed immigration processing for immigrants with disabilities, delayed FEMA support in areas where there have been natural disasters, and gaps in accessibility and accommodations support across the agency.

Plain Language

President Trump fired Kristi Noem from being the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Then, the President chose Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) to be the next Secretary of DHS. This week, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) Committee had a hearing to talk about whether or not to approve Senator Mullin. The committee voted to move him forward in the process. Next, the full Senate will have to vote to decide if Senator Mullin can be Secretary.

In February, Congress passed appropriations bills. Appropriations means money that is set aside by Congress for a particular use. They separated the DHS bill from the five other bills in the appropriations package and made it a short-term spending bill. That new continuing resolution (short-term spending bill) funded the Department of Homeland Security until February 13. Congress couldn't agree on a funding bill in time for the February 13 deadline, so DHS shut down. This means many people in DHS stopped working and stopped getting paid. There are some people who have to keep working during a shutdown because their jobs are considered very important for the safety of the country.

The Department of Homeland Security includes many different agencies. Here are some of them and how people with disabilities might be affected while these agencies are shut down.

• Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): They are immigration police. They are supposed to keep people out of the country who don't have the right paperwork. They have hurt a lot of people and done many things that are against the law.
  
  

• The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): They help people when there are disasters, such as hurricanes or tornadoes.
  
  

• Transportation Security Administration (TSA): They are in charge of safety and security when people travel. This includes keeping people safe at airports.
  
  

• The Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services: They check and see if people can come into the country and what kind of paperwork they have. They sometimes help people become official citizens of the U.S.

People with disabilities could have a harder time getting the right accommodations when they go to the airport. They might not be able to access different services through FEMA if the agency isn't fully working. Immigrants with disabilities might have to wait longer to meet with an immigration official to get the right paperwork to stay in the U.S.

President Trump Remarks on Learning Disabilities

This week, President Trump made comments directed at California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has dyslexia. The President said he thinks “a president should not have learning disabilities” and referred to Governor Newsom as “low IQ” and said “President can’t have learning disability. If you have that, that’s not a ⁠good thing.” The comments were made both in the Oval Office with reporters and during an interview on Fox News.

Key Takeaways

This is not the first time the President has spoken disrespectfully about people with disabilities. In November 2025, President Trump used the r-word in a social media post to describe Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. This word is considered disrespectful and offensive by people with disabilities and advocates. President Trump and administration officials continuously depict autism as an epidemic, a horrible condition, a “fever,” and included it in a list of “chronic conditions that plague Americans.”

Speaking about people with disabilities in this way is dangerous and ignorant. It furthers harmful and ableist perceptions of people with disabilities and ignores their valuable contributions to every aspect of our society.

You can read a statement from the National Center for Learning Disabilities here.

Plain Language

This week, President Trump said that people who have learning disabilities should not be president. He was talking about the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom. Many people are saying that Governor Newsom might run for President in the next election. Governor Newsom has dyslexia, which is a disability that makes it hard to read and write. President Trump said he thinks "a president should not have learning disabilities" and said “President can’t have learning disability. If you have that, that’s not a ⁠good thing.”

This is not respectful of people with learning disabilities. People with learning disabilities can do many things and they should not be talked about like this. It also shows that the President doesn’t know much about learning disabilities, because many smart and powerful people in the world have learning disabilities and are good at their jobs. The President has said disrespectful things about people with disabilities in the past. In November 2025, President Trump used the r-word in a social media post to describe Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. This word is considered disrespectful and offensive by people with disabilities and advocates. The President and other people in his Administration have also talked about autism like it is a horrible disease, which is not respectful to autistic people.

Medicaid and Medicare Fraud Hearing

On Tuesday, March 17, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing in its Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee titled “Protecting Patients and Safeguarding Taxpayer Dollars: The Role of CMS in Combatting Medicare and Medicaid Fraud.” The hearing focused on what states are doing to protect Medicaid program integrity and prevent fraud. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Deputy Administrator Kimberly Brandt was the sole witness. In her testimony, she detailed CMS’ efforts to prevent and crack down on Medicare and Medicaid fraud, including:

• The Comprehensive Regulations to Uncover Suspicious Healthcare (CRUSH) Initiative request for stakeholder input
  
  

• Enhanced provider enrollment screening
  
  

• Using AI and advanced data analytics to identify suspicious behavior in billing or services
  
  

• Collaboration with law enforcement and other federal agencies (such as the FBI or Department of Justice)
  
  

• Public-private partnerships with entities in the technology and healthcare sectors
  
  

• Federal-state partnership to identify duplicate Medicaid, CHIP, and Medicare enrollments
  
  

• Focusing on fraud in hospice care and durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS)

Deputy Administrator Brandt announced that, by the end of the year, CMS is planning to release a 50-state Medicare Program Integrity playbook that will include best practices for program integrity, intended to share information across states.

Additionally, President Trump signed a new Executive Order (EO) on March 16 called “Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.” The EO specifically mentions Minnesota’s fraud cases and calls out California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Colorado as likely places for similar fraud to be occurring. The President established Vice President J.D. Vance as the Chairman of the Task Force and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission as the Vice Chairman of the Task Force. The Task Force will coordinate “a comprehensive national strategy to stop fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs” and “develop measures to improve eligibility verification processes in Federal benefits programs and maximize enforcement of eligibility requirements.”

Key Takeaways

Republican Members on the subcommittee echoed many of the Administration’s concerns about significant fraud perpetrated in Medicare and Medicaid through durable medical equipment, home care, Medicaid ABA therapy, and adult day care. Democrats on the panel expressed concern that CMS is using the pretext of fraud to defund these services. They also argued that most of the states being targeted by the Administration and Congressional Republicans are Democrat-led, and alleged political motivations behind the anti-fraud efforts.

Representative Yvette Clarke (D-NY) said that CMS’ cuts to Medicaid in Minnesota will affect home and community-based services (HCBS) and services for people with autism. She also called for Congress to restore the Medicaid funding that H.R.1 (the One Big Beautiful Bill) cut. Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Representative Lori Trahan (D-MA) mentioned in their remarks that President Trump fired former HHS Inspector General Christi Grimm (in a manner many Democrats describe as unlawful), and then left that position unfilled for a year. The Office of the Inspector General works on investigating and detecting fraud in HHS program.

Representative Kevin Mullin (D-CA) mentioned that California and its Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, is being targeted by the Administration in a similar way to how they targeted Minnesota. He spoke about how CMS’ efforts could get in the way of early childhood intervention for kids with autism and home care for older adults and people with disabilities. CMS has put particular emphasis on in-home services, which CMS officials have flagged as potentially fraudulent in California based on what they describe as a mismatch of demand for services and services billed to Medicaid. Representative Mullin expressed concern that CMS is not conducting reviews to understand the potential impact of cutting Medicaid services for people with disabilities and older adults.

Representative Kim Schrier (D-WA) asked Deputy Administrator Brandt to end use of the WISeR (Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction) Model, a program that uses AI and Machine Learning alongside CMS staff to find wasteful health care spending.

The Administration and Congressional Republicans have been determined in their efforts to root out what they describe as rampant waste, fraud, and abuse in healthcare, especially Medicaid. On March 5, Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman John Joyce (R-PA), and Health Subcommittee Chairman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) sent letters to ten states requesting information on the states’ efforts around Medicaid program integrity.

Advocates are concerned that using the language of “fraud-busting” could be cover for the Administration to cut Medicaid services for people with disabilities and older adults. The focus on HCBS as a frequent source of fraud is misleading, advocates argue—Medicaid HCBS is subject to cost neutrality regulations and providers must go through extensive screening and use Electronic Visit Verification. As evidenced by the Administration’s actions cutting off millions of Medicaid dollars to Minnesota, CMS may use examples of fraud to cut off broader Medicaid funding to states. Cutting off Medicaid funding in this way is likely to impact innocent beneficiaries; withholding federal funds abruptly will introduce financial instability in benefit programs and result in service disruptions for older adults and people with disabilities.

Plain Language

On Tuesday, March 17, the House Energy and Commerce Committee had a hearing. A hearing is a meeting where Members of Congress talk to experts and people who have lived experience. This is a hearing in a special part of the committee called the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. This hearing is called: “Protecting Patients and Safeguarding Taxpayer Dollars: The Role of CMS in Combatting Medicare and Medicaid Fraud.” Combatting means fighting. Fraud is when someone pretends to be someone or does something so they can get money. The hearing was about fraud in Medicaid and Medicare, which is when someone pretends to be someone else or pretends to provide some services so that they can get money from Medicaid or Medicare.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Deputy Administrator Kimberly Brandt was the only person who joined Members of Congress during the hearing. She talked about different ways that CMS is trying to stop fraud. This includes:

• Asking people to suggest how they think the government can stop fraud
  
  

• Doing more work to double check that people are who they say they are before CMS gives them money
  
  

• Working with other federal agencies like the FBI or Department of Justice
  
  

• Working with states to make sure people aren't getting Medicaid in more than one state

President Trump signed a new Executive Order (EO), which is an official announcement that tells other Departments in the government what to do. This new EO says that the President is making a new task force to fight fraud. Vice President J.D. Vance will be in charge. The EO mentions Minnesota because there was a fraud case there. It also mentions California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Colorado as other places where the President thinks there is Medicaid fraud.

The Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is Brett Guthrie (R-Kentucky) and the Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Committee is John Joyce (R-Pennsylvania). The Chairman of the Health Subcommittee (a different part of the Energy and Commerce Committee) is Morgan Griffith (R-Virginia). These Representatives are very focused on Medicaid fraud. They sent letters to ten states asking them what they are doing to stop fraud. Even though the federal government gives out Medicaid money and is in charge of the program overall, every state has its own Medicaid program.

The President and his Administration have talked a lot about how they think there is a lot of fraud in Medicaid. Many Republican Members of Congress have talked about this too. Advocates are worried that the Administration is using fraud as an excuse to take Medicaid away from people and spend less on it. The Administration cut off millions of Medicaid dollars to Minnesota when they found examples of fraud there, so people are worried that the Administration will do the same thing to other states. Advocates have said that there are already a lot of ways that CMS and state Medicaid programs stop fraud. There are rules about how much Medicaid HCBS can cost and ways that people have to prove they are providing services.

During the hearing, Republican Members of the committee talked about how they think there is a lot of fraud happening in Medicare and Medicaid, especially in home care and therapy for autistic people. Democrats on the committee said that CMS is saying there is fraud so that they can go after states that the Administration doesn't like. They said that most of the states the Administration and Republican Members are targeting are led by Democrat Governors.

• Representative Yvette Clarke (D-New York) talked about how people who get home and community-based services (HCBS) and therapy for autism will be negatively affected by Medicaid cuts. She said Congress should give back the money it cut in H.R.1 (the One Big Beautiful Bill) to Medicaid.
  
  

• Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey) and Representative Lori Trahan (D-Massachusetts) mentioned in their remarks that President Trump fired the HHS Inspector General and then waited a year before hiring a new one. The HHS Inspector General looks into cases of healthcare fraud in HHS programs.
  
  

• Representative Kevin Mullin (D-California) said that California is being targeted by the Administration similarly to Minnesota. He said he is worried that CMS did not check and see how people might be affected if they cut off money for Medicaid. He talked about how CMS is trying to take money away from Medicaid and it could affect kids with autism getting support and home and community-based services for older adults and people with disabilities.

National Institutes of Health Hearing

On March 17, the House Appropriations Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee held an oversight hearing on the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya was the sole witness.

Key Takeaways

Numerous Democrats on the panel, including Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), expressed concern that NIH research grants have been canceled and funding has been pulled for life-saving research because the Administration viewed them as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Democrats also pressed Director Bhattacharya to provide updates on instituting permanent leaders at the agency, as 16 NIH institute directors are currently serving in “acting” capacities.

Representative Lois Frankel (D-FL) expressed concern that vaccines in the U.S. are harder to access than in other countries, and pressed the Director to weigh in on how to improve vaccine trust. Representative Madeleine Dean (D-PA) talked about the need for Parkinson’s disease research and also emphasized that Secretary Kennedy’s vaccine policy is problematic for improving public trust in the country’s health institutions.

Congress appropriated $48.7 billion for NIH for FY26, but the Office of Management and Budget only just signed off of the NIH’s 2026 spending plans this week. Ranking Member DeLauro raised this issue in the hearing, saying that researchers across the country have been concerned about whether or not they’d receive these funds and if the funds would be rescinded by the Administration. Director Bhattacharya reassured the panel that research grants will be quickly disbursed, saying, “My job is to make sure every single dollar goes out, and it will go out by the end of the year on excellent science.”

Plain Language

On March 17, the House Appropriations Committee's Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Subcommittee had a hearing on the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya was there to talk about NIH. Many Democrats on the committee said they were worried that NIH funding for research wasn't going out to the people who do research. They said that the Administration was not giving people funding for research if they thought the research was about diversity, which means people with different lived experiences. Director Bhattacharya said he and other people at NIH are working hard to make sure researchers get the funding for their research.

Representative Lois Frankel (D-Florida) said she is worried that vaccines are harder to get in the U.S. than they are in other countries. Representative Madeleine Dean (D-Pennsylvania) said NIH needs to do research on Parkinson's disease, which is physical disability that gets worse over time. She also said that Secretary Kennedy's vaccine policies are bad for the public and they make the public not trust the government.

Congress gave NIH a lot of money for 2026, but the White House was very late in approving that money. LHHS Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut) said researchers across the country were worried about getting the money so they could do important health research.

Vaccines

A federal judge has halted some of HHS Secretary Kennedy’s changes to vaccine policy, including the January 2026 changes to the childhood vaccine schedule which eased guidance for the rotavirus, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and flu vaccines. The vaccines were moved from a universal recommendation to a category called “shared decision-making,” which means that families should consult a doctor to decide whether or not to get their child vaccinated for those diseases.

The federal judge also ruled that the 13 vaccine advisors on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) selected by Secretary Kennedy were unlawfully appointed, and therefore their vaccine policy changes are unlawful. The judge wrote that ACIP “is a committee specifically dedicated to the ‘use of vaccines and related agents for effective control of vaccine-preventable diseases’…As to that specific function, the newly appointed members appear distinctly unqualified. A committee of non-experts cannot be said to embody ‘fairly balanced . . . points of view’ within the relevant scientific community.” The judge is halting all votes taken by these ACIP members, which the AAP notes includes “changing COVID-19 vaccine recommendations to shared clinical decision-making, removing the recommendation for a universal birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine and requiring flu vaccine manufacturers to discontinue use of thimerosal.” ACIP was scheduled to meet March 18 and 19. That meeting is now postponed.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) led the lawsuit along with other medical groups. HHS is likely to appeal.

Key Takeaways

HHS Secretary Kennedy has made reshaping vaccine policy a pillar of his policy priorities since he began his tenure at HHS. This includes changing the makeup of various committees and staff at HHS, including ACIP. In doing this, he is able to make policy changes based on his long-held belief that vaccines are mostly unsafe because they lead to developmental disabilities like autism or chronic illness like allergies, despite the lack of credible evidence to prove these points.

In January, the AAP released their own 2026 childhood immunization schedule, rejecting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendations. As opposed to the CDC, AAP recommends all children be vaccinated against the flu, RSV, hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, and meningococcal disease.

Plain Language

Vaccines are shots that keep people from getting diseases.

A judge has stopped some of the changes that HHS Secretary Kennedy made to vaccine policy. This includes the changes that HHS made to the childhood vaccine schedule, which is a list of vaccines and when kids should get them. HHS changed guidance for vaccines that stop people from getting a few different viruses, including the flu. Previously, it was recommended that all kids get these vaccines no matter what. Now, the CDC is putting those vaccines in another category called "shared decision-making." This means that families should talk to their doctor to decide whether or not to get these vaccines for their kids.

Health experts have been worried about this because this new advice might mean that fewer kids get vaccinated for these diseases. People might be confused and think that vaccines aren't safe. They might get fewer vaccines, which means more kids might be at risk of getting those diseases. People might be confused about this advice, and they might not get a vaccine. This could be bad for people with disabilities, especially people who have a disability that makes it easier for them to get sick or people who use a device to help them breathe.

The judge also said that the 13 people that Secretary Kennedy put on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) were put on the committee against the rules and they shouldn't be there. ACIP is a group that makes decisions about vaccines. The judge said that all of the policy decisions ACIP made don't count. They were made by people who were doing their job illegally. The judge said that the people on ACIP are not really experts and don't have the knowledge to make the decisions they are making about changing vaccine policy. ACIP was scheduled to meet on March 18 and 19, but they postponed the meeting.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) led this lawsuit. A lawsuit is when someone goes to a court to get someone else to change something they are doing. AAP is an organization that advocates for children and works on children’s healthcare. During the time that Secretary Kennedy has led HHS, many organizations that work on public health have publicly said that they don't agree with the Secretary's policies. They said these changes will lead to fewer kids getting vaccines against dangerous diseases and could hurt and even kill people. AAP made their own childhood vaccine schedule because they thought the new HHS childhood vaccine schedule was bad because it recommended fewer vaccines for kids. Secretary Kennedy has made a lot of these changes because he thinks that vaccines are not safe and they give people disabilities, even though that is not true.

You can read more in this previous issue of Disability Policy News.

New Legislation

• The Veteran Burial Benefit Correction Act (S.4108)

  • Introduced by Senator James Risch (R-ID)

  • Would increase burial and funeral expenses paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs in the case of death from a service-connected disability

  • You can read Senator Risch’s press release here.
    
    

• The Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement Act (S.4118) (H.R.7966)

  • Introduced by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Representative Linda Sánchez (D-CA)

  • Would create additional safeguards to prevent fraudulent hospice providers from enrolling in Medicare and increase oversight of hospices

  • You can read Senator Warner’s press release here.
    
    

• H.Res.1117

  • Introduced by Representative Kevin Mullin (D-CA)

  • Would designate March to be Multiple System Atrophy Awareness Month" to strengthen public awareness of this neurodegenerative disorder

  • You can read Rep. Mullin’s press release here.

Plain Language

There are a few new bills in the U.S. Congress.

• The Veteran Burial Benefit Correction Act would give more money to families for funerals if their loved one died from a disability they got while they were in the military.
  
  

• The Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement Act would stop fraud in hospice care. Hospice is a place that people go when they are very sick and getting ready to die.
  
  

• A resolution to make March Multiple System Atrophy Awareness (a kind of physical disability) Month

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. Read past blog posts here.

Read our newest piece from Julie Eshleman, PhD, MEd, BCBA; LEND Fellow, Georgia State University: The Carrot or the Stick? How AI Policy Could Redefine Digital Equality for the Disability Community

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 recent videos here.

Words to Know

Vaccines

Vaccines are shots people get to stay healthy and not get diseases.

Fraud

This is when people lie about who they are or what they do to get something in return, like money.

Lawsuit

An official process where someone takes an issue to a court because they want someone else to change something. Sometimes people will sue (creating a lawsuit) an organization or another person.

Veteran

A person who used to be in the military.

Childhood Vaccine Schedule

A list of vaccines and timeline for when children should get them