President Donald Trump wants to stop directing federal funds to the nation’s university centers on developmental disabilities, multiple Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs and much more.
Trump issued his budget request to Congress late last week for the fiscal year starting in October. The proposal calls for a steep hike in military spending and deep cuts to domestic programs.
“It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things,” Trump said last week before releasing the budget. “They can do it on a state basis. You can’t do it on a federal. We have to take care of one thing: military protection. We have to guard the country.”
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The White House plan would close the Administration for Community Living, which oversees programs helping people with disabilities, with many of the agency’s functions absorbed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children, Families and Communities.
Meanwhile, Trump wants to zero-out funding for Developmental Disabilities Projects of National Significance, University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and Voting Access for Individuals with Disabilities.
One program would get a notable bump — an extra $100 million would go to Centers for Independent Living. States could elect to use the added funds to continue programs subject to funding cuts under the Trump proposal, the White House said.
“While the budget frames these changes as streamlining and increasing flexibility, eliminating targeted programs like the University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Projects of National Significance and Voting Access for People with Disabilities risks dismantling critical infrastructure that cannot be easily replaced. These programs play distinct roles in research, training, technical assistance and direct support,” said Delancy Allred, public policy manager at the Autism Society of America. “Shifting funding into the Independent Living program, even with an increase, does not guarantee these services will be preserved. Without dedicated funding, essential supports such as early intervention, workforce development and access to civic participation could be reduced or lost, especially in underserved and rural communities.”
Trump also wants to consolidate funding for several IDEA programs. His budget would eliminate line items for preschool grants, state personnel development, technical assistance, personnel preparation, parent information centers and more, folding funding for these efforts into broader grants that are distributed to states under IDEA Part B.
“This proposal represents a historic investment in IDEA and reflects the administration’s goal to return education to the states by streamlining funding and expanding flexibility for states,” the budget plan indicates.
Disability advocates said last year when the White House first requested similar changes to special education funding that the alterations would require Congress to modify IDEA.
“Eliminating preschool funds and IDEA programs would have a serious negative impact on students with disabilities, schools and states,” said Stephanie Smith Lee, co-director of policy and advocacy at the National Down Syndrome Congress, who served as director of the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs under President George W. Bush. “Congress recently soundly rejected this proposal in the FY 2026 appropriations bill on a bipartisan basis. It is our hope and expectation that students with disabilities and their families can count on Congress to reject this misguided proposal once again.”
Trump also wants to give states more control over how vocational rehabilitation funds are allocated by doing away with grants for supported employment, client assistance, training and a protection and advocacy program designed to ensure the legal rights of individuals with disabilities. Under the plan, the administration said that states could choose to use vocational rehabilitation state grants for such purposes.
The budget proposal, which serves as primarily as a wish list, largely mirrors the request Trump put forth last year for disability programs. That plan was broadly rejected by Congress.
“While the president’s budget is ultimately a statement of priorities and does not have the force of law, it sends a clear signal about the values of the Trump administration,” said Maria Town, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities.
“The proposal is extremely concerning because it targets the very infrastructure that people with disabilities and their families rely on every day. Programs like University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and Projects of National Significance drive innovation, train the workforce and help states deliver effective supports. Eliminating them would weaken the system at its core,” she said. “At the same time, cutting investments in special education personnel, technical assistance and parent information centers would leave families with fewer resources to navigate complex systems and fewer qualified professionals to provide services. These are not abstract cuts; they would directly impact whether people with disabilities can learn, work and live independently in their communities.”
