POLITICO

President Donald Trump wants to move a crucial program for children with disabilities into the Department of Health and Human Services. Special education advocates and Democrats warn that his plan is illegal, Chelsea reports with POLITICO’s Mackenzie Wilkes. The IDEA program, which serves 7.5 million students under a decades-old law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, to protect children with disabilities, was housed in the Department of Education, which Trump dismantled last month. As the Trump administration tries to find a new home for IDEA at HHS, special education advocates insist the president can’t do it without Congress’ approval. “Unless they do something illegal, they cannot just move special education to HHS,” said Stephanie Smith Lee,  former director of the Office of Special Education Programs in George W. Bush’s Education Department.