Protect Special Education: US. Department of Education (ED), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Health and Human Services (HHS) Layoffs Threaten Students’ Rights
October 23, 2025
On October 10, the Administration announced layoffs affecting more than 4,000 federal employees across several agencies, including the Departments of Education (ED), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Health and Human Services (HHS). These reductions place critical disability programs and disability rights enforcement at serious risk.
The federal government has to protect the educational rights of students with disabilities. The ED layoffs, set to take effect on December 9, 2025, would greatly reduce federal oversight of special education and disability rights in education across the nation.
At the ED, layoffs targeted the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) and the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
OSERS and OSEP are responsible for:
- Ensuring states comply with IDEA and protect the rights of students with disabilities
- Administering federal grants to special education and vocational rehabilitation systems
- Issuing civil rights guidance to states and school districts
- Supporting transition services that connect students to employment and community life
- Collecting national data used to identify discrimination, inequity, and systemic failures
When schools segregate students, deny services, or violate Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), students will lose these rights not because the laws have changed, but because the federal government is choosing not to enforce them. This will directly affect students with disabilities all over the country at all educational levels. Without these offices, students with disabilities could lose access to support and accountability measures that make equal education possible.
Layoffs at HUD target the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO), the division responsible for enforcing the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on disability and other characteristics in renting, buying, and financing housing.
The layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services include cuts to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. Reductions (ASPR) at SAMHSA could weaken state mental health and addiction programs, including the 988 suicide prevention hotline. CDC and ASPR provide vital information and services during public health emergencies and natural disasters, both of which disproportionately impact the disability community.
The ED, HUD, and HHS enforce several disability rights laws and serve important roles in protecting public health; removing staff who carry out those mandates is not cost-cutting, it is a rollback of disability rights.
These reductions will:
- Weaken special education services and oversight for millions of students
- Fair housing investigations will decline, increasing the risk of discrimination.
- Mental health and crisis support programs will lose essential staff and funding.
- Disrupt public health emergency protections
- Harm disabled people
Eliminating nearly all staff in these offices means states will operate without important federal oversight.
A judge has temporarily paused the layoffs, but Congress must act to preserve and restore staffing across ED, HUD, and HHS. These agencies are the backbone of federal disability rights enforcement.
The Center on Disability strongly condemns reducing staff at federal offices that enforce disability rights laws and protect access to services and critical information.
Take Action: Tell your representative to push back against cuts to programs and staff that the disability community relies on, specifically those at the Department of Education, HUD, and HHS. Use this search tool to find your representative or complete this form created by DREDF.