The Trump administration is attempting to eliminate important civil rights protections contained in federal regulations, and CPR is working to push back and delay these efforts by drafting, and joining allied groups’, comments in response to proposed regulatory changes. When Congress passes a new law, it often delegates authority to an Executive branch agency to create regulations that implement the law. Agencies must typically publish regulation additions, changes, or removals, and give the public a chance to respond during a “notice and comment” period. This is an important opportunity for stakeholders—individuals and groups—representing various perspectives to share their views on the impact of the proposed regulatory changes by submitting comments. These comments become part of the public record and the Executive agency must read each comment and address the covered topics when the final regulations are issued.
On June 16, 2025, CPR submitted comments opposing the Trump Administration’s planned recission of regulations implementing Section 504 that ensure that facilities that receive funding from the Department of Energy (DoE) are accessible to people with disabilities. Due, at least in part, to the more than 20,000 comments received, DoE has delayed implementation of the new rule until December 10, 2025.
On August 13, 2025, CPR submitted comments to oppose the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) harmful new interpretation of a “Federal public benefit” under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), which expands the categories of programs that certain groups of immigrants would no longer qualify for. By adopting an expanded definition of federal public benefits, HHS will deprive people with disabilities in certain immigrant categories of critical medical and behavioral health services harming these individuals, their families, and communities. In addition, ambiguity created by HHS’ current position on immigration verification will unduly burden community organizations and state and local governments, and deter eligible individuals from receiving needed services.
In addition to these efforts, CPR has joined our allies in submitting comments to the Administration to show that a large number of groups have opinions and concerns about proposed actions. The letters CPR has signed on to include topics that are relevant to CPR priorities such as: opposing the White House Executive Order promoting institutionalization of unhoused individuals, opposing elimination of federal minimum wage and overtime protections for home care workers, and changes to the regulations within Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act that set standards for disability hiring by federal contractors, among others.