A bipartisan committee in the U.S. House of Representatives is affirming the rights of Disabled people to live in their homes and communities, rather than being warehoused and locked away in institutions.
U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, and Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, who co-chair the Disability Caucus, introduced H.Res. 1586 to proclaim that the landmark Olmstead decision reflects Congress’ intent that people with disabilities should live and receive services in their communities.
The move comes on the heels of a recent federal court ruling that sparked controversy and confusion.
At the request of five states and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, a Trump appointee, ruled last week to strike community-integration provisions from a Biden-era rule implementing a landmark civil rights law.
The case, Texas v. Kennedy, was filed in 2024 in an attempt to remove protections for people with gender dysphoria. What began as a case involving 17 states eventually dwindled to five: Texas, Florida, Alaska, Montana and Louisiana. The ruling follows a concerning June Department of Justice memo regarding Olmstead and a systematic slashing of disability legal funding since Trump retook the White House.
Enacted as part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504 was the first federal civil rights protection for Disabled people. It bars disability discrimination by programs that receive federal funding and later served as the blueprint for the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Section 504, the ADA and the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead decision are the three key legal pillars keeping Disabled people in their communities rather than warehoused in institutions.
Disability advocates welcomed the resolution as much-needed clarity on a “civil right that has been reaffirmed by courts for decades.”
The Defend Community Integration Coalition, which is comprised of several national disability-rights organizations, said in a statement: “The integration mandate is facing new and unprecedented attacks, so this affirmation of Congress’s directives could not be more timely. Disabled people belong in our communities. This resolution sends a clear message from both sides of the aisle that Congress meant what it said, and we urge every member to cosponsor it.”
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