For Immediate Release: October 15, 2025
Contact: Jess Davidson, jdavidson@aapd.com; 202-465-5528 and Naomi Hess, nhess@aapd.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Over the past few days, the Trump administration has executed massive illegal reductions-in-force (RIFs) across federal agencies, including in many offices that serve people with disabilities. The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is concerned that these RIFs will threaten disabled people’s access to education, employment, health care, housing, and more. AAPD is relieved that a federal judge has temporarily paused the RIFs after unions representing federal employees filed a lawsuit, but the fight to stop the RIFs is not over yet. AAPD demands that these workers be reinstated so that all Americans who rely on government programs and services can receive the benefits and supports they need.
Many offices in the Department of Education (ED) experienced RIFs over the weekend, including the majority of staff in the the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), encompassing the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). These offices ensure that students with disabilities receive equal access to education and help disabled adults enter and remain in the workforce. These RIFs are a part of a long-term strategy of the Trump administration to close the Department of Education, which has been in motion since the beginning of this year.
7.5 million students with disabilities, representing 15% of all public school students, rely on the protections granted in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to ensure that they receive special education services. OSERS oversees the implementation of the IDEA, and schools and parents of children with disabilities often need to contact OSERS for information about special education requirements. Without staff working at OSERS, those schools and parents will not be able to carry out their obligations and receive needed services. In addition, the lack of staff puts at risk the disbursement of IDEA funds to, and federal oversight of, state special education programs.
RSA provides vocational rehabilitation services to people with disabilities to maximize their employment opportunities. Because disabled people are less likely to have competitive, integrated employment than their nondisabled peers, RSA is essential for promoting independence and community integration. We are concerned that there will be less support for the employment of people with disabilities as a result of these cuts.
In addition, although IDEA, the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other critical civil rights laws protecting disabled people from discrimination in education will technically remain in place, these RIFs will have long-term negative consequences on the ability of disabled people and their families to receive the services and supports they are entitled to because there will be fewer staff to enforce these laws. Ultimately, disabled people will lose access to critical education and employment services without these offices.
AAPD President and CEO Maria Town shared, “The Department of Education ensures that children, youth, and adults with disabilities have an equal shot at education and economic success. An attack on the Department of Education is an attack on special education and people with disabilities.”
Staff at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), among other agencies, also experienced RIFs. SAMHSA provides many services that assist people with mental health disabilities, such as the Protection & Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) Program, the 988 suicide prevention hotline, and mental health and addiction support services. The nation is already in the midst of a mental health crisis, so SAMHSA is more important now than ever and should not be threatened by RIFs.
Further, people with disabilities are far more likely than those without disabilities to experience suicidal ideation, co-existing psychiatric disabilities, and substance use disorders. SAMHSA’s efforts are essential for improving outcomes and ensuring equitable and accessible mental health and substance use services for people with disabilities. SAMHSA also helps to build a better system for crisis care, which helps prevent unnecessary and expensive restrictive hospital stays and promotes better access to care for disabled people.
Although more than half of the RIF notices affecting the CDC have been rescinded, many staff remain laid off, including people working in CDC’s Washington office, the National Center for Health Statistics, and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Cuts to the CDC threaten public health, which affects people with disabilities who have immunocompromising conditions or are more likely to have worse outcomes when they contract infectious diseases.
Many of the fired HUD staff came from the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, which will impact disabled people who experience housing discrimination. Over 60% of housing discrimination cases reported to HUD in 2023 involved disability-based discrimination. The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity is the office that handles these cases, leaving anyone hoping to enforce their fair housing rights without any recourse. The Office of Public and Indian Housing and the Office of Housing and Community Planning and Development were also impacted by the RIF.
HUD, like ED and CDC, had already experienced enormous staffing cuts earlier in the year that directly diminished the agency’s capacity to administer the accessible and affordable housing programs that many people rely upon, including Americans with disabilities. These new cuts at HUD, ED, CDC, and other affected agencies further limit the agencies’ abilities to serve people with disabilities.
“People with disabilities already face persistent barriers in education, employment, housing, health care, and community integration. These RIFs target dedicated public employees who protect and serve disabled Americans. Rather than make government more efficient, these illegal actions will only increase barriers, make government at every level less efficient, and set progress for disabled people back decades,” Town concluded.
AAPD has created a resource that further explains the details of the reduction in force and how it impacts disabled people.