BREAKING: Federal judge rules that the Trump administration likely illegally suspended SNAP benefits, ruling that at least reduced distribution is required to go forward under law using the $6 billion reserve fund. Judge gives the Trump admin until Monday to respond as to whether it will act.

“Given how many people with disabilities rely on benefits from government programs, this shutdown is especially harmful for the disability community” - @mariatown.bsky.social, @aapd.com #DisabilityJustice www.disabilityscoop.com/2025/10/28/g...

Judge Indira Talwani acknowledged this will leave millions of people without assistance starting Saturday. Two dozen Democratic-led states had sued over the administration's decision to suspend SNAP. n.pr/3JxdjHW

BREAKING: Judges order the federal government to use contingency funds for SNAP food aid payments during the shutdown.

2026 Applications for the Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leaders Award close TOMORROW at 5 PM ET! Recipients receive $25,000 for leadership development and to advance a bold idea for people with disabilities. Go to our website to apply and learn more: www.aapd.com/paul-g-hearn...

This week on The State of Belief: Rev. @raushenbush.bsky.social is joined by @thecelinafactor.bsky.social, CEO of @lwvus.bsky.social!

The programs will continue to receive grant funding, but only for one year. “It is still a disruption to families,’’ Lisa McConachie of the Oregon DeafBlind Project said. “It creates this mistrust, that you are gone and back and gone and back.”

This seems troubling. It’s not a situation like when the physician payment formula was in flux in 2015 & all Medicare physician claims were temporarily held (or paid at lower rates and then later reprocessed). Most payments should flow normally with only certain telemedicine/other claims held.

Today is a Disability Mentoring Day, a day that puts a focus on national effort on promoting career development for students and job-seekers with disabilities through career exploration and ongoing mentoring relationships.

The government shutdown shows no signs of ending soon. Social Security & Medicaid benefits will keep going out, but, people could be w/o other benefits, like SNAP & WIC very soon. AAPD created a resource that explains what’s at stake if the shutdown doesn’t end soon. www.aapd.com/explainer-wh...

Per CDC source: At internal leadership meeting this afternoon, it was shared that 1,257 people were RIF'd at CDC. Number may not be final. Apparently, chief of staff was unaware that RIFs were going to occur so not clear who is making decisions. (Short 🧵)

If you work in the Office of Special Education for the Department of Education and have been RIF'ed or if you work in a school that has been notified about it, please message me. My Signal is emgarcia.85. I'll protect your identity.

Two opportunities to get involved in the city this week, from @colleengrablick.bsky.social's Civics Roundup: • Tuesday, Oct. 7: @freedcproject.bsky.social's Ward 3 campaign orientation • Wednesday, Oct. 8: "Angry" hour for pissed-off optimists benefiting @peacefordc.bsky.social

ICYMI, the federal government is still shut down. Here's what that means for the people of D.C.

#FF @jasmineeharris.bsky.social @mariatown.bsky.social @crenny75.bsky.social @akwyz.com @neilmilliken.bsky.social @debraruh.bsky.social @judgewren.bsky.social @sabrinaep.bsky.social @xoulwing.bsky.social @icarszoey.bsky.social @yep4rights.bsky.social @disabilityrightsca.bsky.social @aapd.com

And will be in excellent hands with the brilliant @ashleyallison.bsky.social 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/02/media/the-root-go-media-ashley-allison

If you haven’t worked in the federal government during a past shutdown, it may be hard to know how drastically this breaks from past practice and the law. I was furloughed from HHS in 2013, and our out-of-office messages were studiously neutral. To do otherwise would have violated the Hatch Act.

Ridiculously, Medicare Telehealth coverage keeps are getting tied to continuing resolutions. Bills could be passed separately. But political bureaucracy. This means Medicare Telehealth waivers are kaput as of today. My latest for @motherjones.com www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

This will be an essential resource, and my hope is that it makes it easier for academics who are called to public scholarship as a way to fight the encroaching darkness.

As we await news of a government shutdown, I’m thinking back to my time as a federal employee. In 2013, the government shutdown for a little more than two weeks. I was confused, frustrated, and scared.

The work of disabled scholars counting on federal funding for their projects and access needs is evaporating in a haze of Trump, after we fought SO HARD for equitable access. Many of these scholars are in the ADA Generation!

So, a project that I’m working on is getting some media attention, and that feels pretty cool. I should note: this article lets at least one highly dubious claim from administration brass go unchallenged. So bad as this picture of Trump’s SSA looks, the reality’s probably worse. Gift link below.

In making unsupported claims about autism, the Trump administration is "pointing the finger" at parents and making them feel guilty, says autism community advocate Colin Killick.

Citing concerns about DEI, the Department of Education has halted funding for programs that support students with combined hearing and vision loss in eight states. “How low can you go?” one advocate asked. “How can you do this to children?” By @jodiscohen.bsky.social @jsmithrichards.bsky.social

This is what she lives with every day now: “The fear of leaving your family and letting them know, ‘If I don’t return, it’s not because I am abandoning you.’” Powerful story by @chabeli.bsky.social for @19thnews.org.

Muriel Bowser is worse than the mayor from Jaws. This executive order is like putting chum into the water to welcome sharks to your beach. #FreeDC www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

ICYMI: On Friday the Department of Labor extended the comment period on rescissions to Section 503. The new deadline is Sep 17, 2025 at 11:59 PM EDT. Submit your comment today!

"The move to drop the 7% goal for federal contractors...will only make it harder for people with disabilities — a traditionally underemployed population — to find work, said @mariatown.bsky.social, president and CEO of the @aapd.com. www.disabilityscoop.com/2025/08/29/l...

Cw assisted suicide I've been chatting to people recently on how Switzerland's assisted suicide, including w/ medical tourism, is much lower than Canada's bc it's a country that seems to get it's people's needs met, and that includes housing.

NEWS: CVS, the largest pharmacy chain in the country, is currently not offering Covid vaccines in 16 states and DC — even to people who meet the new FDA criteria — because the CDC hasn't signed off and isn't expected to do so (if it does so) for at least three weeks.

Hi friends, here's my attempt to offer clarity on the COVID vaccine situation, I hope there's something helpful in there for you: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/who-...

ICYMI: Here's what we know about the impact of the FDA's decision to limit Covid vaccine approval, and how people who don't meet the new criteria may be able to get vaccinated. I will update it as I learn more. Gift link:

School choice is a scam. mississippitoday.org/2025/08/25/f...

“As someone who held an anti-capitalist politic, I don’t think Stacey would have ever imagined or advocated to be on a piece of currency. And yet here she is, right? Because it is a tool. It is a vehicle,” said Yomi Young. By @slooterman.bsky.social 19thnews.org/2025/08/stac...

For October, looking to profile a former government worker with a disability who was laid off this year at @motherjones.com for National Disability Employment Awareness Month. I imagine this should take roughly an hour of your time. Please reach out at [email protected]

Late last night I mapped crime rates for cities in OH, SC and WV to show how often they exceeded the rate in DC — where those states’ governors are sending National Guard troops to “combat crime.” www.pbump.net/o/more-peopl...

There comes a time when it's the kid's turn to take care of mom and dad. Here's how to broach this sensitive subject with your parents, and what to talk about.

"What happened on Aug. 8 is part of the same trend as Jan. 6...: an intentional campaign of political violence on all fronts, actively driven to target public health by the people who now ostensibly lead its institutions." www.statnews.com/2025/08/15/c...

The Trump administration sent reduction-in-force notices to more than 1,400 staffers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in April. By @laurelwams.bsky.social

I cannot emphasize enough that the playbook being used against mRNA vaccines (and vaccines in general) is IDENTICAL to the playbook used to restrict voting rights after the 2020 election: actively sow public distrust, then cite the distrust you sowed as an independent reason for your desired policy

I lived in DC for five years. Crime rates were higher than they are now. We didn’t need the National Guard then, nor do we now. I knew multiple unhoused people. They did not turn DC “into a wasteland.” They were neighbors and friends. Trump’s announcement today is a violent abuse of power.

The "crime" referred to in the headline is "not having a home and living in a tent." The federal and city governments ensconced in DC could give every unhoused person in the city a condo and a job, but instead it's this? A race to see who can fuck the vulnerable populations over faster? Fuck this.

I have lived in DC for a cumulative 12 years. I love living here. DC already has one of the highest concentrations of law enforcement presence in the country with literally dozens of law enforcement agencies working in the District.

laist.com/news/disable... Disabled immigrants are being abused and neglected inside Adelanto Detention Center, report says | LAist

This will be catastrophic.

Thank you to @mariatown.bsky.social of @aapd-disability.bsky.social , @nicolejorwic.bsky.social of @caringacross.org and @elenahung.bsky.social of @littlelobbyists.com for jumping on calls with me on this sad day.

Love you @mariatown.bsky.social (and @nicolejorwic.bsky.social).

This #MedicaidMinute takeover by @mariatown.bsky.social of @aapd-disability.bsky.social is more important now than ever after the vote to gut Medicaid by $930 billion. This #DisabilityPrideMonth let’s all commit to building the care economy all disabled people deserve.