Press Release: 11/13/2025
Warren, Duckworth, Dingell, Simon Lead Democrats in Pressing Labor Secretary to Explain Elimination of Key Protections, Programs for Workers with Disabilities
Rollbacks include a rule that would have ensured workers with disabilities are paid competitive wages
Trump admin’s FY26 budget proposes a complete elimination of team that ensures compliance with disability protections
Washington, D.C. — In a new letter, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), along with Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Chair of the Bipartisan Disability Caucus, and Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.) led 56 members of Congress in pressing Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer about the Department of Labor’s (DOL) dismantling of key disability employment protections. Secretary DeRemer’s rollbacks include regulations that prohibit discrimination by federal contractors, a proposed rule that would have ensured competitive wages for disabled workers, and funding to teams that enforce labor protections.
“(Y)our actions as Secretary of Labor represent the most significant retreat from opportunities for workers with disabilities and federal disability rights enforcement in decades,” wrote the members.
In July, Secretary DeRemer proposed a rule that would eliminate directives from Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, including hiring goals for federal contractors and data collection requirements to monitor compliance with disability employment objectives.
“This provision serves as a cornerstone of federal efforts to promote disability employment in the private sector…Without concerted action, a growing number of disabled people would be shut out of the workforce and increasingly reliant on social safety net programs,” said the members.
Eliminating data collection and measurable targets means there would be no accountability mechanisms to ensure private companies are complying with the law. This policy reversal would also run counter to the Trump administration’s goal of reducing government dependency and promoting workforce participation, and would likely reduce employment opportunities for disabled workers, increasing their reliance on government benefits.
Secretary DeRemer has also laid off nearly 90 percent of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, leaving only 50 employees to process thousands of federal contractor audits that affect millions of workers. President Trump’s FY26 budget proposes getting rid of the office entirely.
President Trump’s FY26 budget also proposes cutting the Office of Disability Employment’s budget by more than 20 percent.
“By cutting this office’s funding, your administration is decreasing the federal government’s leadership role in promoting competitive integrated employment at a time when such coordination is most needed,” wrote the lawmakers.
Secretary DeRemer is also undermining workers with disabilities’ fight for competitive wages. The Biden administration had proposedphasing out 14(c) certificates, which are waivers allowing employers to pay a wage lower than the federal minimum wage to workers with disabilities. In July, Secretary DeRemer abandoned this proposal, and the DOL continues to issue the certificates.
“This exploitative practice undermines the dignity and economic security of people with disabilities while creating perverse incentives for employers to segregate disabled workers in sheltered workshops, where most employees are people with disabilities,” said the lawmakers.
In July, the DOL also proposed eliminating equal opportunity regulations in registered apprenticeships, which combine paid job training with technical instruction, providing clear pathways to employment. Data shows that workers who completed apprenticeships saw a 49 percent increase in their earnings.
“The disability community deserves leadership that expands employment opportunities…you have instead continued a systematic dismantling of decades of bipartisan progress that has measurably improved employment opportunities and quality of life for millions of Americans with disabilities,” concluded the lawmakers.
The coalition asked Secretary De-Remer to provide clarity by December 11, 2025 on her decisions to eliminate the above protections and how the department plans to fulfill its legal obligations to workers with disabilities without those regulations.
Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) joined in signing the letter.
Representatives Alma Adams (D-N.C.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Donald Beyer (D-Va.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), Cleo Fields (D-La.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Julie Johnson (D-Texas), Bill Keating (D-Mass.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), John Mannion (D-N.Y.), Sarah McBride (D-Del.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Kelly Morrison (D-Minn.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Emily Randall (D-Wash.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii) joined in signing the letter.