On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) announced it was canceling a fiscal year 2025 grant application for a technical assistance center that supported postsecondary transition services for students with disabilities saying that the decision was part of a comprehensive review to ensure “competitions align with the objectives established by the Trump Administration.” The notice also stated that, “The Department is dedicated to optimizing the impact of our grant competitions on students and families, as well as enhancing the economic effectiveness of federal education funding.”

The move flies in the face of U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon testifying at her confirmation hearing that a priority of hers as education secretary would be to ensure funds for students with disabilities are not impacted.

In efforts to combat the drastic funding reductions to the USDE and a proposed transfer of special education programming to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in an April 2nd letter from 23 Democratic senators to McMahon stating that such moves will cause “immense harm” to students with disabilities and that “Congress has promised to families that students with disabilities will have a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment and has specifically charged the Department of Education with making that promise real in the lives of students with disabilities.”

The letter also asks McMahon to provide information in specific questions by April 11, 2025.

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