Disability News October 25, 2025
Editor's Note: The disability community is increasingly preferring to use identity-first language (disabled person) in place of person-first language (person with a disability). This is because many in the community view disability as being a core component of identity, much like race and gender. Some members of the community, such as people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, still prefer person-first language. Both should be considered valid. Articles shared in this newsletter may contain one or the other (or both) depending on the author's preference, and if they themselves have a disability.
'Uncharted territory': Ongoing shutdown threatens food aid for 42 million people by Jennifer Ludden on October 24, 2025 at NPR
"In just over a week, nearly 42 million people in the U.S. who get federal food assistance are in danger of seeing their benefits disappear because of the ongoing federal shutdown."
The Trump Administration’s Plans To Covertly Cut Social Security Disability Benefits by Molly Weston Williamson and Mia Ives-Rublee on October 14, 2025 at the Center for American Progress
"Social Security, including disability benefits, is one of the most successful anti-poverty programs in the United States. As of August 2025, 8.1 million people received Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and 7.3 million people received federal Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI). Yet the program is now under threat: The Trump administration has plans to propose regulatory changes that, if finalized, could represent the biggest Social Security disability cut in history. "
As Winter Knocks, and the Shutdown Drags on, Poor Families May Have to Ration Heat by Nina Lakhani on October 25, 2025 at Mother Jones
"Millions of Americans face having to ration heating this winter as the US federal government shutdown and mass layoffs by the Trump administration cause unprecedented delays in getting energy assistance aid to low-income households, a group that helps people pay energy bills has warned."
It’s been a month. And we still don’t know much about Kennedy’s Long COVID consortium by Betsy Ladyzhets October 21, 2025 The Sick Times
"A month after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. convened top Long COVID experts and government officials for a roundtable event, progress toward new government initiatives to tackle the disease appears to be moving slowly. Some preliminary discussions are happening behind the scenes, but federal health agencies have yet to announce specific next steps."
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