Alliance Alert: The Alliance for Rights and Recovery is encouraged to see members of Congress speaking out against the U.S. Department of Justice’s attempt to weaken the Olmstead v. L.C. integration mandate, one of the most important civil rights protections for people with disabilities. The right to live, work, recover, and fully participate in the community should never be called into question. New York and the nation cannot afford to move backward toward greater institutionalization after decades of progress expanding community-based services and supports.
We applaud Senator Tammy Duckworth, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and their colleagues for introducing a resolution calling on the Administration to rescind this harmful memo and reaffirm the promise of Olmstead. Their leadership sends a strong message that the rights of people with disabilities are not negotiable and that community integration remains a fundamental civil right.
The Alliance will continue advocating for the full implementation of the Olmstead integration mandate in New York and across the country. We will work with state leaders to expand community-based housing, peer support, crisis alternatives, employment, and other services that make community living possible while keeping our members informed about opportunities to push back against any effort to roll back these hard-earned rights. Now is the time to strengthen our commitment to community inclusion, not weaken it.
Senate Democrats Rally Against Pro-Institutionalization DOJ Memo
By Julia Metraux | Mother Jones | June 25, 2026
On Thursday, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) will introduce a resolution that calls for the Department of Justice to rescind a memo issued last week that contests the longstanding interpretation of the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead v. L.C. decision, a landmark case that limits states’ power to compel people to live in psychiatric and other institutions, such as nursing homes.
“I am not going to let this administration move us back to a time when people were ripped out of their communities, ripped out of their homes against their wills, and forced into institutions,” Duckworth told me in an interview.
The DOJ memo itself does not change the law, but it may influence how the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services approach agreements and programs that help disabled people live in their communities, outside institutions. Following the release of the memo, HHS took down <https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/community-living-and-olmstead/index.html> its webpage on Olmstead and community living.
The slip opinion, which Bloomberg Law reported <https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/stephen-miller-said-to-drive-doj-memo-eroding-disability-rights> was allegedly driven by the demands of ultra-right Trump advisor Stephen Miller, was met with immediate backlash from disability advocates and legal experts. As George Washington University law professor Alison Barkoff told me <https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/06/trump-doj-memo-olmstead-psychiatric-disabilities-institutions-mental-health/> when I covered the opinion last week, the Trump administration’s “interpretation is completely inconsistent with virtually all courts” with respect not only to the interpretation of Olmstead but also that of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which the Olmstead decision builds on. That also greatly concerns Duckworth.
“This is taking us back to a time when there were forced lobotomies in this country,” Duckworth said. “We just cannot let that happen.”
The resolution is also co-sponsored by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), among others. The DOJ opinion, the resolution says, “rejects the integration mandate and threatens the hard-won progress towards full integration of individuals with disabilities into society in the United States,” compounded by GOP cuts to Medicaid-funded home and community-based services <https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/03/hcbs-home-care-medicaid-fema-gop-trump-cuts/> , which will also force more disabled people into institutions. The resolution also calls for the US government to recognize the importance of fulfilling Olmstead and a reversal of Medicaid cuts.
“This is clearly the ableism that exists in this administration that starts with Donald Trump, the president,” Duckworth told me. “He’s the guy who looked at wounded veterans, amputees, and said those guys are suckers and losers.”
Olmstead‘s integration mandate, Duckworth emphasized to me, is “critically important to our society.”
“We cannot be a leader of the free world if we continue to segregate groups of people in our own country, whether it is through racism or through ableism,” Duckworth said. “They underestimate the willpower of the disability community.”
Senate Democrats Rally Against Pro-Institutionalization DOJ Memo – Mother Jones <https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/06/duckworth-democrats-doj-olmstead-institutionalization-psychiatric-memo-opinion/>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2026
Contact: Grace Christin, Grace_Christin@duckworth.senate.gov <mailto:Grace_Christin@duckworth.senate.gov>
Duckworth, Schumer, Durbin Lead Senate Democrats in Introducing Resolution to Reaffirm Promise of Olmstead, Protect Disability Rights and Condemn Trump Administration’s Latest Attack
Senate Democrats’ resolution comes after Donald Trump’s Department of Justice aims to upend landmark Supreme Court ruling in Olmstead v L.C. that ensures Americans with Disabilities can live full, independent lives in their communities
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] — In the wake of the Trump Administration’s latest attack against the disability community, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Committee on the Judiciary Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL) led Senate Democrats today in introducing a resolution that would protect disability rights and uphold the true promise of the Supreme Court’s landmark Olmstead decision—a ruling that has protected Americans with disabilities’ right to live full, independent lives in their own homes and communities. This effort comes after Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memo that undermines Olmstead’s key protections and would put our nation on a dangerous path that allows Americans with disabilities to be forced into institutions against their will. The resolution affirms the Olmstead decision, calls on the Trump Administration to rescind this misleading slip opinion and reverse the biggest Medicaid cut in history, among other actions that have put care for the disability community at risk. Along with Duckworth, Schumer and Durbin, the resolution is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Patty Murray (D-WA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Edward Markey (D-MA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE).
“The Trump Administration’s memo is an outrageous attack on the rights and independence of the disability community,” said Senator Duckworth. “We cannot allow Trump’s DOJ to drag us back to a time when Americans with disabilities were institutionalized and ripped away from their families. Our resolution sends a clear message: we will not tolerate violations of the fundamental rights of the disability community.”
“Olmstead was a promise that Americans with disabilities would never be forced out of their homes, stripped of their independence, or warehoused away from their communities,” said Leader Schumer. “Trump’s weaponization of the DOJ to threaten basic rights of disabled Americans is a morally bankrupt attempt to break that promise and drag America back to a shameful era of segregation and institutionalization. Not only does it violate decades of legal precedent, but it also flies in the face of who we are as a nation. The dignity, freedom, and civil rights of all Americans are not up for debate, and this dangerous and cruel opinion must be rescinded immediately.”
“Everyone deserves to live with dignity—a belief that was upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1999 Olmstead decision. People with disabilities should be able to access the care they need while living in and participating in the community,” said Senator Durbin. “It’s appalling that DOJ, under pressure from Stephen Miller, is now attempting to strip people of their right to receive community-based care.”
“This is yet another attempt by Trump and Republicans to roll back long-standing protections for people with disabilities, and my colleagues and I won’t stand for it,” said Senator Wyden. “I’ve spent my career fighting to protect Americans’ freedoms and health care rights, and I’ll continue pushing back against Trump’s attacks on the freedom of people with disabilities to live and thrive in their communities.”
“The Justice Department’s memo arguing that people with disabilities don’t have a right to home- and community-based services is wrong,” said Senator Gillibrand. “It is not just misguided, but a direct attack on the basic freedom enjoyed by those like the more than 1.2 million disabled adults living autonomously in New York. I will continue to work tirelessly to make sure Olmstead is upheld and Americans with disabilities retain their right to independence.”
“People with disabilities are our family members, classmates, colleagues, and neighbors. They enrich our lives and are key members of our communities. But this administration’s cuts to Medicaid, false accusations of health program fraud, and undermining of legal protections threaten their rights and autonomy. People with disabilities deserve to live with dignity and respect in the setting that’s right for them,” said Senator Markey.
“We cannot allow the Trump administration to roll back our civil rights and attack Americans’ liberties. The weaponization of the DOJ and the Trump administration’s attempts to strip Americans with disabilities of their right to live with dignity and independence in their communities is shameful. Together, we will continue to fight for the civil rights and liberties of people with disabilities and ensure they can live freely, without the threat of discrimination or institutionalization,” said Senator Van Hollen.
“The Olmstead decision affirmed that Americans with disabilities could live independent, full lives,” said Senator Bennet. “This should not be controversial. We should focus on making real progress for disabled Americans, not clawing back rights that we have already fought for.”
“Over the past year and a half I’ve heard from countless members of the disability community who feel targeted by this administration. They’ve seen their healthcare taken away through massive cuts to Medicaid, and now this opinion threatens to strip away their civil and human rights. We cannot let this happen,” said Senator Kim.
“Every American deserves the freedom and dignity to live independently and be part of their community. For decades, the Olmstead decision has helped protect those rights for people with disabilities,” said Senator Luján. “Now the Trump administration wants to move us backward and undo the progress that has been made. I am proud to join my colleagues in reaffirming our commitment to inclusion and ensuring people with disabilities have the support they need to live where they choose.”
“Senator Duckworth’s resolution affirms what the disability community has always known: Olmstead isn’t a footnote in case law, it’s a promise,” said President and CEO of American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) Maria Town. “Our disabled ancestors fought too hard and sacrificed too much to enshrine our rights to live, work, and belong in our own communities. We are not going back. Congress must match this resolution with real action. Full funding for home and community-based services isn’t a budget line item, it’s the difference between independence and institutionalization for millions of disabled people. AAPD firmly supports this resolution and urges every member of Congress to fund the services that make Olmstead’s promise real.”
The Trump Administration’s discriminatory memo comes on the 27th anniversary of the landmark Olmstead ruling which has for nearly three decades protected Americans with disabilities from unjustified institutionalization. Trump’s DOJ itself acknowledged that last week’s slip opinion was ‘out of step’ legal consensus.