Federal Legislation & News
in Special Education
Update on Proposed Medicaid Cuts
The House and Senate still have their different versions of the reconciliation resolutions. To use reconciliation, the House and the Senate must agree on a single approach, and they are negotiating. Republican Leadership will have to walk a line between factions that don’t think the proposed cuts to Medicaid went far enough and those that are concerned about the impact of Medicaid cuts on their constituents and the states they represent. The next step is for the Senate to take up the House-passed budget, likely making amendments, which may happen in late March, after the joint recess.
Republicans are feeling the pressure. Medicaid is popular, among both Trump and Harris voters, and Republicans do not want to admit that they are voting to take health care away from people. We have heard repeatedly that some Republican House staff are telling constituents and advocates that they did not vote to cut Medicaid, but instead merely voted to start the reconciliation process. Make no mistake–the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a report confirming that the House budget resolution would require deep cuts to Medicaid.
Meanwhile, over the last two weeks, state and local officials have raised alarm over the impact of proposed Medicaid cuts, driving home that Medicaid is not a red state, purple state, blue state issue, and that federal cuts to Medicaid create huge budget holes that states cannot fill.
Republican Medicaid Cuts Could Shutter Rural Hospitals, Maternity Care
Washington Post
Republican-led Medicaid cuts could severely impact rural hospitals and maternity care services, potentially driving essential healthcare access in underserved regions to a breaking point. Rural communities, already facing healthcare disparities, could be hit hardest by these proposed cuts.
Republican Voters Support Medicaid but Want Work Requirements, Poll Finds
New York Times
A poll reveals that while many Republican voters support Medicaid, they also advocate for implementing work requirements for recipients. However, a significant misconception exists, with 62% of voters incorrectly believing that most Medicaid enrollees are unemployed, even though the vast majority are employed.
GOP Must Cut Medicaid or Medicare to Achieve Budget Goals, CBO Finds
The Washington Post
In its recent report, the CBO confirms that Republicans must cut either Medicaid or Medicare to reach their budgetary targets. This challenge highlights the political and economic difficulties Republicans face in trying to rein in spending while managing the growing costs of healthcare programs.
Republicans Need to Cut Medicaid to Hit Budget Savings Target, CBO Finds
The Hill
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) indicates that Republicans will need to reduce Medicaid spending in order to meet their fiscal savings goals. As the GOP continues to struggle with rising healthcare costs, Medicaid has become a primary target for cuts to balance the budget.
McMahon Sworn in as Secretary of Education
Last night, following the Senate’s confirmation vote of 51-45, Linda McMahon was sworn in as the Secretary of Education. “I intend to make good on President Trump’s promise to return education to the states, …and free American students from the education bureaucracy through school choice,” McMahon said in a prepared statement. The newly minted Secretary is expected to oversee immediate efforts to implement President Trump’s executive orders and policy vision for the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) and will work to help secure confirmations for pending ED nominees including Penny Schwinn as deputy secretary, Kimberly Richey to lead the Office for Civil Rights, Nicholas Kent to be undersecretary of Education, and Kirsten Baesler to be assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education. President Trump has not yet named nominees for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services or the Office of Special Education. COPAA and NCYL have asked the Office of Civil Rights to provide answers and transparency.
Appropriations Committee Hearing Focuses on K-12 Funding, Including IDEA
Last week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-H) held a hearing to discuss investments in elementary education. Testimony was heard from Ms. Ginny Gentles, Director, Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies; Dr. Lindsey Burke, Director, Education Policy, The Heritage Foundation and author of the education section of Project 2025; Mr. Robert Kim, Executive Director, Education Law Center; and Ms. Starlee Coleman, CEO, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. School choice, student performance, special education funding, and block grants to allocate federal education funding to states all emerged as major topics. Dr. Burke specifically recommended that oversight of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Title I should move to Health and Human Services (HHS), data collection for the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) to the Census Bureau, and Indian Education programs to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Mr. Kim reminded the committee that block granting Title I and IDEA funding (and freeing states of key federal requirements) would jeopardize students’ free and fair access to public education. He also urged that due to our nation’s history, students with disabilities would be particularly vulnerable
ED Launches Portal to End Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Releases New FAQ
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has launched EndDEI.Gov, a public portal to submit reports of discrimination based on race or sex in publicly funded K -12 schools. Citing federal statutes including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX, Section 504, and other laws, ED notes that the portal provides an “outlet” to report “illegal discriminatory practices” at institutions of learning and that information shared [via the portal] will be used to identify potential areas for investigation. ED also released an FAQ in connection with a February 14 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) to educational institutions receiving federal funds that notified them that they must cease using race preferences and stereotypes as a factor in their admissions, hiring, promotion, scholarships, and more. As noted in COPAA news last week, several prominent attorneys wrote a detailed letter disputing the legality of the DCL.
McMahon confirmed as education secretary
K-12 Dive
Linda McMahon won confirmation as U.S. education secretary on Monday, gaining Senate approval in a51-45 vote along party lines. McMahon’s approval had been expected given the Republican majority, albeit thin, in the Senate. President Donald Trump nominated McMahon to lead his long-promised downsizing of the U.S. Department of Education. McMahon, a former administrator of the Small Business Administration and former president and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, said during her Feb. 13 Senate confirmation hearing that she was open to reforming the department but wanted to study specific programs before making commitments for change. Of special education oversight, McMahon said, “I’m not sure that it’s not better served in HHS, but I don’t know.” She did say funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Title I programming for low-income schools, and other programs established in statute would need to continue even if the Education Department were shuttered.
Trump’s war on DEI comes for programs helping autistic students find jobs in STEM
The Independent
Stassun told The Independent that as recently as January, the Frist Center was told it would receive a $4 million grant from the National Science Foundation to create a model for including neurodivergent people across engineering schools in the United States. The grant was supposed to be part of the Broadening Participation in Engineering program, which focuses on including a diverse array of people in engineering. But because the grant was not officially activated before Trump put in place an executive order limiting DEI programs and before Elon Musk began the process of eliminating various programs as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the grant was suspended. Stassun said he understood the suspension came as a result of the program having “bad DEIA” words such as “neurodiversity,” “inclusion,” “disabilities,” and “accessibility.”
Trump’s DEI policies pose risk to students with disabilities
The Hill
Children with disabilities are getting swept up in the Trump administration’s crusade against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and its push to end the Education Department, advocates say. So far, the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) biggest contract canceled at the Department of Education involved analyzing programs for students with disabilities, and the same DEI programs President Trump is seeking to outlaw often provide accommodations for disabled students. DEI is also sometimes presented as DEIA, with the last letter standing for accessibility. “The whole reason students with disabilities are able to be in the classroom and get access to an equitable education is because of DEIA efforts,” said Robyn Linscott, director of education and family policy at the Arc of the United States, an advocacy group for individuals with disabilities. “I think people need to raise their voices to their elected officials because Congress has permanently authorized many of these laws and the funding that go with them. So, while the administration may cancel some discretionary funding, they cannot change, for example, the funding formulas under IDEA that go to states without Congress’s approval,” said Denise Marshall, the CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates.
Special education enrollment climbs to nearly 8M
K-12 Dive
The number of students with disabilities, ages 3-21, could jump by about 1 million students between 2021 and 2025 if the current rate of increase continues, according to federal data and an analysis by The Advocacy Institute. By comparison, it took about 20 years — from 1997 to 2017 — to add 1 million students eligible for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, said Candace Cortiella, founder and director of The Advocacy Institute, a nonprofit focused on improving the lives of people with disabilities. But pre-K-12 grade schools gained 539,617 students eligible for IDEA services between fall 2021 and fall 2023, the most recent year for which data is available from the U.S. Department of Education. From fall 2022 to fall 2023, the number of IDEA-eligible students increased by 3.4% to a total of 7,892,433.
As GOP Eyes Medicaid Cuts, Trump Tries to Avoid the Political Third Rails
Washington Post
Former President Trump is seeking to avoid the political pitfalls surrounding proposed Medicaid cuts while aligning with Republican fiscal goals. His cautious approach reflects the complex political landscape in which cutting Medicaid could alienate key voter groups.
Republicans Once Maligned Medicaid. Now Some See It as a Program Too Big to Touch
AP News
Once a target for cuts by many Republicans, Medicaid has become a program that some now view as too integral to the nation’s healthcare system to alter. The growing scale and importance of Medicaid have shifted the party’s approach, making it a political issue that many Republicans are now reluctant to tackle.
House and Senate Hold Hearings on Online Exploitation and Trafficking
Within the past week, both chambers of Congress have held hearings on child safety and online protection against sexual abuse and exploitation. The House hearing spotlighted how to best protect victims of human trafficking, especially domestic sex trafficking, and how to halt Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). Witnesses for the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance presented evidence to dispel misconceptions about victims. “The truth about domestic minor sex trafficking is that for girls of color and LGBTQ youth, and children with disabilities, the greatest dangers are from child welfare involvement, running away, being groomed online, and homelessness.” Passing a Trafficking Survivors Relief Act (TRSA) and extending the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) would shield victims from forced criminality. Experts also noted that grooming prevention education in schools (1 hour twice per year) would help raise youth awareness of these harms, and Democrats condemned the Trump Administration’s disastrous funding freeze and illuminated its “harmful consequences in disrupting efforts to combat human trafficking and online exploitation.” The Senate hearing also highlighted the dangers of CSAM and the ability of generative AI to create hundreds of thousands of explicit images. Senator Grassley stated that big tech is noticeably absent in preventing CSAM, and their algorithms have fostered a rise in sexual exploitation of minor children and others. Effective tools are being developed to identify CSAM and need bipartisan support to continue those efforts.
Access the House Judiciary hearing Protecting Victims of Human Trafficking and Online Exploitation here.
Access the Senate Judiciary hearing Children’s Safety in the Digital Era: Strengthening Protections and Addressing Legal Gaps here.