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By Marni Rose McFall
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Project 2025 could pose significant risks to the disabled community during a hypothetical second term for former President Donald Trump, according to activists, lawyers and lawmakers.
Policies set forth in the 900-page document from the Heritage Foundation, including the reduction or removal of public benefits like Medicaid and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), the potential elimination of the Department of Education and Head Start, have caused concern.
In a statement shared with Newsweek, Sen. Tammy Duckworth said, "Americans with disabilities already face persistent barriers to getting where they need to go on public transit, to acquiring good-paying jobs and to both accessing and receiving equitable health care, education, housing and more."
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Army veteran Duckworth, a Democrat representing Illinois, lost both her legs and severely injured her right arm during the Iraq War when the Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
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"By seeking to gut Medicaid and Medicare, enact a nationwide abortion ban, slash VA benefits and eliminate the Department of Education, Republicans' extreme Project 2025 would drag the disability community backward and make it even harder for them to live safe, full and independent lives," she said.
"Medicaid and SSDI are the lifelines," Eric Buehlmann, the Deputy Executive Director for Public Policy at the National Disability Rights Network, explained in a phone call with Newsweek. He said that cuts to these services will cause, "big problems," and that "people are going to lose access to services and supports that they need."
A spokesperson for Project 2025 declined to comment on Duckworth and Buehlmann's remarks.
The Heritage Foundation's proposals are seen as a roadmap for a future Republican president.
Trump has distanced himself from the project, calling some of the policies "absolutely ridiculous and abysmal," but does support shutting down the Department of Education.
Buehlmann said, "Dismantling the Department of Education, you're losing that expertise, that oversight, that ability to enforce civil rights protections like [the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act]."
"The steps we've been making to really fully integrate students with disabilities into the general education system, that's all going to disappear once the Department of Education is gone."
When reached for comment on the former president's plan to shut down the Department of Education, a Trump campaign spokesperson told Newsweek that the campaign disavowed Project 2025.
A report by disability-rights lawyer Lainey Feingold said that the conservative think tank's objective of dismantling the "administrative state" by limiting federal regulatory agencies and cutting public benefits would severely impact disabled individuals.
In an email to Newsweek, Feingold said, "Digital accessibility is a civil right of people with disabilities. It is the difference between inclusion and exclusion in the digital world. A Trump victory and adoption of even part of the Project 2025 agenda threatens this fundamental right."
A spokesperson for Project 2025 told Newsweek that its policies sought "to maximize employment opportunities for all Americans, including individuals with disabilities" and that Project 2025 called "for protecting flexible and independent work options that are increasingly important to individuals with disabilities."
A report from New America highlighted that eliminating the Head Start program would cut off access to early developmental screenings and services, worsening long-term developmental outcomes for vulnerable children.
The Project 2025 spokesperson said its proposals suggest "transitioning Head Start to a voucher. The idea is to support eligible children directly, rather than having them be dependent on a distant federal program that has proven ineffective."
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