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April 3, 2026 | Vol. MMXXVI | Issue 155
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In this edition:
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President's Budget |
On April 3, the President released his budget, which proposes cuts to non-defense government departments and agencies, similar to last year’s budget. Next week’s Disability Policy Newsletter will include more details about the President's Budget and its potential effects on Network members and people with disabilities.
The President’s budget proposal is not legislative text, but is required by law to be submitted annually. It communicates the Executive’s policy priorities and budgetary goals to Congress, and is a set of recommendations that Congress can follow, but is not required to implement. Leaders of federal agencies will start to testify before Congress about the President’s Budget. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is scheduled to testify before these committees in April:
House Ways and Means
House Energy and Commerce
House Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee
Senate Finance
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Senate Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee
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Plain Language |
The President writes a budget that they have to send to Congress every year. This budget shows how much money they want to give to different parts of the government. It is not a law. The Administration wrote a budget and sent out some information on it. The budget shows they want to cut funding for a lot of things except for the military and the other parts of the government related to security. This budget is not a law. Next week's Disability Policy News will include more details about this budget and how it might affect people with disabilities and AUCD Network programs.
Different leaders from across the federal government will come talk to Congress about the different parts of the budget. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will meet with these committees in April:
House Ways and Means
House Energy and Commerce
House Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee
Senate Finance
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Senate Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee
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Department of Justice |
On April 2, Attorney General Pam Bondi was removed from her position by the White House. The President made this announcement on Truth Social and also shared that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, his former criminal defense lawyer, will lead the department in an acting capacity.
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Key Takeaways |
The departure of Pam Bondi from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) underscores how critical DOJ leadership is for people with disabilities, as the agency plays a central role in enforcing civil rights protections under laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). DOJ decisions shape everything from access to community-based services and integrated employment to protections against discrimination in housing, education, and the criminal justice system. Leadership changes can influence enforcement priorities, litigation strategies, and guidance to states and employers, meaning real-world impacts on whether people with disabilities can live, work, and participate fully
in their communities.
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Plain Language |
On April 2, Attorney General Pam Bondi was removed from her job. The President announced that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche would lead the Department of Justice (DOJ) instead of Pam Bondi for a short amount of time. The Attorney General is a lawyer for the United States. They give advice on the law to the President and other leaders in the federal government.
The DOJ is in charge of making sure that everyone follows the law. This includes making sure that companies and organizations are following disability law and that people with disabilities have access to the services, supports, and accommodations that they are supposed to have. The person in charge of DOJ and who they hire to work there affects what the department focuses on and how much effort they put into making sure people are following the law and whether or not people get punished for breaking it.
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Department of Homeland Security
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This week, the House rejected a Senate-passed bill to fund all of DHS except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Senate Democrats had refused to fund ICE and CBP without significant guardrails, and the bill is now being lambasted by House Republicans as a Democrat-driven vehicle. The House passed their own short-term funding bill, which would temporarily fund DHS (including immigration enforcement) through May 22. The Senate is now in recess until April 13, and has signaled that it will reject the House-passed bill. The DHS shutdown has now been the longest federal agency shutdown U.S. history.
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Key Takeaways |
Amongst other agencies under DHS, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been the focus of much of the challenges of this shutdown. News outlets have reported that while TSA agents were not being paid—as is typical under shutdowns—they still had to work, as their responsibilities fall under the category of federal workers who are “essential” and necessary to national security. Many TSA agents have quit or refused to show up to work during this shutdown, affecting TSA screening lines in airports across the country. These have undoubtedly affected travelers with disabilities, who often experience challenges traveling and lack of accessibility in airports.
The President decided to start paying TSA agents by tapping funds for DHS from last year’s reconciliation bill (the One Big Beautiful Bill) and this week, TSA agents have started receiving paychecks again.
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Plain Language |
A few things happened recently that affect the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS is shut down because Members of Congress can't agree on how much money to give it and need to pass a new bill to give it money before DHS can work again.
First, the Senate passed a bill to give money to all of DHS except for two parts: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Immigration police are part of ICE and CBP.
Immigration is when people leave one country and come to live in another country. Immigration police have hurt many people who are against the President's immigration policies. This has happened many times and has made people all around the country very upset. When people were killed by immigration police during a protest in Minnesota, many Congressional Democrats said that because immigration police have hurt people and messed up, they should have less money and more rules. Republicans didn't agree with everything Democrats wanted to do, so they couldn't agree on what bill to pass. Now, Senate Democrats got part of what they wanted because Senate Republicans agree to fund the parts of DHS that are NOT immigration police.
The House rejected the bill that the Senate passed. Many House Republicans want to give money to ICE and CBP and they don't like the bill that the Senate passed.
The House passed their own bill that would give DHS money through May 22. The Senate is in recess (a time when they are in their home states and districts) and they won't be back in Washington, D.C. until April 13. The Senate probably won't pass the House's bill.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is in charge of safety and security in transportation. TSA is at airports and makes sure people can fly safely. They are part of DHS. Even though DHS is shut down, TSA agents still have to work because they need to protect people during travel. They have not been paid the whole time DHS has been shut down. A lot of TSA agents quit or stopped coming to work. They were having trouble paying their bills because they weren't being paid. During this time, TSA lines in airports have been very long, which is hard for everyone, especially people with disabilities who already face a lot of accessibility challenges in airports.
President Trump decided to use some money that was included in H.R.1 (the One Big Beautiful Bill) to pay TSA agents. They got paychecks this week. Now, the DHS shutdown has been the longest shutdown of one government agency in U.S. history.
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Department of Health and Human Services
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are establishing a new group called the Healthcare Advisory Committee. The group will convene health experts to advise HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz. They will focus on HHS’ goals like preventing and managing chronic disease, improving quality of care, and speeding up claims processing. Members of the committee will serve two-year
terms and hold open, publicly available meetings.
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Plain Language |
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are starting a new group of health experts. This group will be called the Healthcare Advisory Committee. It will give advice to HHS Secretary Kennedy and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz. They will focus on things like stopping disease, improving healthcare, and making insurance work faster. Members of the group will serve as members for two years. They will hold meetings that are available to the public.
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Congress
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Letter on HCBS – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) led a letter with 7 of their Democratic colleagues to President Trump, Vice President Vance, HHS Secretary Kennedy, and CMS Administrator Oz. In their letter, the Senators accuse the Administration of mounting a politically motivated crusade against Democrat-led
states’ Medicaid programs, saying the Administration is cutting off vital funding for services that enable people with disabilities and older adults to live in the community and stay out of institutions. The Senators write that the Administration is unfairly maligning Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) for older adults and people with disabilities, especially since the Administration has implied that there is more fraud in Medicaid HCBS because of its growing number of participants. They write that “[m]ore people and families utilizing HCBS means that states have successfully implemented the federal mandate to shift away from institutional care toward community-based care.”
The Senators also point out that the Administration has fired many independent Inspectors General, the people who are tasked with investigating fraud in government programs, and lift up a Democrat proposal to invest in anti-fraud programs as a more useful endeavor.
Roundtable at California CIL – Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA) hosted a roundtable in Berkeley, California at the Center for Independent Living, which convened experts and leaders to discuss important issues for the disability community. The participants discussed cuts to Medicaid, transportation accessibility, the care economy, and more.
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Plain Language |
Letter on HCBS – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) led a letter with 7 other Democratic Senators. The letter was to President Trump, Vice President Vance, HHS Secretary Kennedy, and CMS Administrator Oz. In their letter, the Senators say the Administration is going after Democrat-led states’ Medicaid programs just because they don't agree with their politics. The Senators say that the Administration is cutting off really important funding for services that help people with disabilities and older adults to live in the community and stay out of
institutions. The Senators write that the Administration is unfairly going after Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) for older adults and people with disabilities. The Administration has said they think there is more fraud in Medicaid HCBS because the number of people who use it is growing. Fraud is when you pretend to be someone else or do something in order to get money. The Senators write that more people are using HCBS because states are trying to help people live in the community, which is a good thing.
The Senators point out that the Administration has fired many independent Inspectors General. An Inspector General is in charge of looking into fraud in government programs. The Senators say that there is a proposal from Senate Democrats that would stop fraud. They say it would work better than what the Administration is doing.
Roundtable at California CIL – Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-California) hosted a roundtable in Berkeley, California at the Center for Independent Living. The roundtable brought experts and leaders together to discuss important issues for the disability community. The participants discussed cuts to Medicaid, transportation accessibility, caregiving, and more.
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Vaccines
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New York Governor Kathy Hochul, the New York State Senate Majority Leader, and the New York Assembly Speaker announced the introduction of two bills that shift vaccine guidance from federal to state decision-making:
A bill that mandates health insurers cover vaccines if they are recommended by New York’s health commissioner, in addition to vaccines recommended by ACIP
A bill that removes references to ACIP in New York’s laws on various vaccination coverage and requirements
Governor Hochul said that “under President Trump and HHS Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr., we’ve watched the federal government empower vaccine skeptics and shred scientific consensus around the safety and efficacy of vaccines.” These actions mirror a move New Jersey made in January, when it passed a law to ensure immunization guidance and health insurance coverage requirements follow guidance from the New Jersey Department of Health instead of relying on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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Key Takeaways |
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. 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 the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (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.
Because some state governments, including New York’s, believe federal guidance can no longer be trusted under Sec. Kennedy’s HHS, they have taken up the mantle of providing their own public health guidance. New York's new legislation is a reaction to the many changes from ACIP to ease recommendations about vaccines, including the childhood vaccine schedule. The Northeast Public Health Collaborative, the West Coast Health Alliance, and the Governors Public Health Alliance all include collections of states that are banding together to provide science-based recommendations.
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Plain Language |
In New York, state government leaders are announcing two new bills that they say are important to making sure everyone can get access to vaccines. Vaccines are shots people get to stay healthy and not get diseases.
One bill would make health insurance pay for vaccines for people if the New York health commissioner recommended that people get those vaccines. The other bill would get rid of wording about the Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices (ACIP) in New York's laws about who is in charge of vaccine recommendations. ACIP is a group under HHS that makes recommendations about when people should get vaccines and which ones they should get. HHS Secretary Kennedy has made many changes to ACIP, including putting a lot of anti-vaccine people on the committee. This has made many people not trust ACIP and not agree with its advice.
These bills would basically move important decision-making about vaccine rules and advice from the federal government to the state government in New York. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said that President Trump and HHS Secretary Kennedy have not been following science with their work at HHS. She said that this includes their actions on vaccines. Secretary Kennedy cares a lot about changing vaccine policy in the U.S. Secretary Kennedy does not think they are safe and has said that vaccines can give people allergies or disabilities like autism, even though this isn't true.
New Jersey did something similar in January. The state passed a law to make sure that vaccine guidance and health insurance rules follow the law of the New Jersey Department of Health instead of listening to what HHS said to do. A lot of states and organizations have decided to do work that they think the government should be doing.
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New Legislation
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Plain Language |
There are a few new bills in the U.S. Congress.
The Same-Day Paratransit Innovation Act would help people with disabilities use public transportation when they need it.
The Safe Staffing Saves Lives Act would make sure there are enough nurses working at nursing homes to keep people safe.
A bill to give people rights if they are in guardianships or conservatorships (when someone else is in charge of your decisions)
A bill to help people get money from Social Security Disability Insurance when they have a illness and they are dying
A bill to make sure that there are enough people working at the Social Security Administration
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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. 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.
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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 Liz’s recent video on the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act here.
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Words to Know
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Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
TSA is the agency in charge of safety and security in transportation under the Department of Homeland Security.
Paratransit
This is a special kind of public transportation for people with disabilities who can’t use most forms of transportation.
Immunization
Immunization is when you get a vaccine that will protect you from diseases. A vaccine is the shot that the medicine comes in.
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