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Rolling Back Disability Rights: How the Administration’s Policies Threaten Access, Equity, and Inclusion for the IDD Community
The Administration’s rollback of ADA guidance and DEIA programs weakens hard-fought disability rights. Learn what these changes mean for the IDD community and health equity.
June 12, 2025 – For more than three decades, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has served as a cornerstone of civil rights for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). It ensured equal access to public spaces, education, healthcare, and employment for this community. Unfortunately, under the current Administration, this hard-won progress is at risk. Key protections are being rolled back by quietly rescinding enforcement guidance and gutting programs designed to promote equity and inclusion.
From the withdrawal of ADA compliance documents to the systematic dismantling of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) initiatives across federal agencies, while administrative losses that are not directly related to Medicaid cuts, these actions threaten to unravel the infrastructure of accountability and support that the IDD community relies on. In this blog, we look into what’s changing under the current Administration, how it’s impacting individuals and families, and why these policy shifts mark a dangerous step backward for disability rights and health equity in America.
What’s Changing: ADA Guidance and Federal Oversight
In early 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the withdrawal of multiple technical assistance documents that previously served as a guidepost for interpreting and implementing the ADA. These included resources on accessible building design, digital accessibility for websites and apps, effective communication policies, and the rights of individuals with service animals. The move signals a troubling shift away from federal leadership and toward state-by-state discretion.
Without these materials, businesses, government agencies, schools, and healthcare institutions lose essential clarity about what compliance entails. For decades, these documents helped translate the broad principles of the ADA into actionable standards. Removing them doesn’t erase the law itself, but it does weaken its enforceability. Confusion grows, enforcement becomes inconsistent, and people with disabilities are left navigating a fragmented landscape.
In addition, the Administration is fighting for steep cuts to Medicaid, which provides health care for more than 10 million children and adults with disabilities. Medicaid covers services that allow the IDD community to live independently in their own home and community, rather than being forced into institutions or medical facilities. With these looming cuts, we could see irreversible damage to HCBS and home care.
In addition to program eliminations, the CDC has experienced substantial staffing reductions. Approximately 1,300 employees were laid off in the early days of the Administration. In total, with early retirements and layoffs, CDC staffing was slashed by 3,500 to 4,000 employees. These workforce reductions have impaired the agency’s capacity to conduct disease forecasting, manage outbreak responses, and maintain essential public health functions.
The restructuring has also led to the consolidation of various CDC programs into a new entity, the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). This move has resulted in the elimination of divisions focused on chronic disease prevention, environmental health, and injury prevention, further narrowing the scope of the CDC’s public health mission.
These developments have sparked widespread concern among public health experts, who warn that the weakening of the CDC’s infrastructure could leave the nation vulnerable to emerging health threats and undermine decades of progress in disease prevention and health promotion.
The Dismantling of DEIA Initiatives
Alongside the rollback of ADA enforcement guidance, the Administration has taken deliberate steps to dismantle federal infrastructure supporting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA). Across agencies like the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and National Institutes of Health (NIH), DEIA offices and initiatives are being defunded, dissolved, or redirected. This includes the elimination of internal equity training programs, removal of accessibility officers, and cancellation of community engagement grants focused on underserved populations.
One of the most consequential decisions was the defunding of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), a key pillar of the NIH. NIMHD has historically supported research at the intersection of disability, race, ethnicity, and geography, and is an essential resource for improving health outcomes in the IDD community. Without it, federal investment in equity-focused science has and will continue to sharply decline. Projects like the University of California San Francisco’s guaranteed income trial for people with disabilities—originally backed by DEI-focused funding—have been terminated or left unfunded.
In a further blow to inclusive research and academic freedom, the NIH has also prohibited new grant awards to colleges and universities that maintain DEI programs deemed to violate federal anti-discrimination laws. This effectively disqualifies institutions committed to equity-focused initiatives from receiving federal research funding. This policy has already led to the loss of critical studies aimed at addressing health disparities across marginalized populations.
These actions don’t just shrink budgets. They erase the visibility of individuals with disabilities. By removing institutional mechanisms to study, address, and correct inequity, the Administration is abandoning its responsibility to ensure that all people can access care, opportunity, and full participation in society.
Erosion of Health Equity and Inclusive Research
The rollback of DEIA frameworks in federal healthcare agencies and academic institutions is having a chilling effect on efforts to reduce health disparities for the IDD community. When agencies like HHS and NIH defund equity programs or eliminate DEIA leadership roles, it signals a retreat from intentional, data-driven approaches to inclusive care, all of which are key-components of value-based care. This directly affects which populations are prioritized in research, who gets trained to serve them, and which services are funded for development.
As DEIA-aligned research programs disappear, so do critical studies examining how social determinants, disability, and identity intersect. The loss of NIH support for inclusive clinical trials has led to the cancellation of several studies focused on disability and health equity. Training pipelines aimed at developing culturally and linguistically competent providers—especially in long-term services and supports (LTSS), home and community-based services (HCBS), and managed care—are also at risk. These programs are essential to closing gaps in care access and improving provider understanding of complex needs across diverse communities.
Without dedicated data collection and research, there is no roadmap for identifying inequities. Without intentional investment, there is no progress. As a result, disparities in diagnosis, treatment access, and health outcomes for people with IDD will only grow more severe. Stripping away the infrastructure for inclusive research is not just a budgetary decision. It is a conscious choice to deprioritize disability equity in our healthcare system.
What’s at Stake for the IDD Community
The Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, was the result of decades of organizing, protest, and advocacy by people with disabilities demanding equal rights. It codified the belief that disability rights are civil rights, guaranteeing access to public spaces, education, employment, and services. But laws are only as effective as their enforcement and interpretation. Guidance, oversight, and investment have always played a crucial role in translating ADA ideals into lived reality.
The current rollback of ADA guidance and DEIA initiatives threatens to undo all of that hard-earned and deserved progress. And the current erosion is not accidental. It is systemic and targeted, undermining the principles of equality that the disability rights movement fought so hard to achieve. We must recognize this moment for what it is: a warning. The removal of federal support does not eliminate the need for access, dignity, or inclusion. What’s at stake is not just policy—it’s people’s daily lives, their autonomy, and their full participation in society.
Advocate’s Perspective
While not directly related to Medicaid cuts, these recent rollbacks signal more than just administrative change. They represent a retreat from civil rights at a time when need is rising and systems are already strained. As advocates, we remain committed to protecting disability rights and advancing health equity for the IDD community. The rollback of ADA guidance, elimination of DEIA programs, and defunding of inclusive research place an unsustainable burden on individuals and families. We urge policymakers and the public to uphold the full intent of the ADA—not just in principle, but in practice. Equality and access must never be treated as negotiable, and we must continue to stand up and defend the rights of the IDD community in schools and workplaces.
Onward!
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About the Author
Fady Sahhar brings over 30 years of senior management experience working with major multinational companies including Sara Lee, Mobil Oil, Tenneco Packaging, Pactiv, Progressive Insurance, Transitions Optical, PPG Industries and Essilor (France).
His corporate responsibilities included new product development, strategic planning, marketing management, and global sales. He has developed a number of global communications networks, launched products in over 45 countries, and managed a number of branded patented products.
About the Co-Author
Mandy Sahhar provides experience in digital marketing, event management, and business development. Her background has allowed her to get in on the ground floor of marketing efforts including website design, content marketing, and trade show planning. Through her modern approach, she focuses on bringing businesses into the new digital age of marketing through unique approaches and focused content creation. With a passion for communications, she can bring a fresh perspective to an ever-changing industry. Mandy has an MBA with a marketing concentration from Canisius College.