2/26/25 - Federal jobs, petty ableism, and a disabled astronaut
Life got extra hectic yesterday, which is why there was no newsletter. And that makes today's edition a little out of date. Still, there's a new action alert below on proposed Medicaid cuts in the U.S. Tomorrow I'll include a link to at least one article covering the House of Representatives vote yesterday evening, which moved forward a budget and tax cut plan that includes $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid. Things are happening fast. There's still time to speak up about this, but waiting for a few more weeks to do so is probably not a good idea.
Mass layoffs leave federal employees with disabilities in the lurch
O. Rose Broderick and Angus Chen, STAT - February 21, 2025
"Like many people with disabilities, Emily got their job because their disability qualified them to be hired under the 50-year-old Schedule A pathway — which helps qualified candidates with a disability sail through the otherwise laborious federal hiring process and helps the federal government meet its mandate of being a “model employer” for people with disabilities."
Aside from the implications for equal employment opportunity for disabled people and the effect of mass firings on government itself, this article prompts me to think about a possibly controversial idea. Maybe there is a worthy, stand-alone value in government being at least a little bit of a "safe haven" for well-paying jobs with full benefits for qualified, talented disabled people. There is something to be said for long-term job security for disabled government workers, while they are doing at the very least nominally useful work, in most cases important work, and in at least some cases vital work. It's certainly a lot less "wasteful" than some of the work done by some disabled people in sheltered workshops – which ironically tend to have more defenders among conservatives who supposedly despise waste and "make work" jobs. It's something worth thinking about with an open mind and fewer ideological strings attached. What is the value to society at large when more disabled people have secure jobs and finances, no matter what they are doing to earn them? The value to all of us is certainly more than zero.
After Maine native testifies before Congress, Elon Musk targets his disability
Joe Lawlor, Portland Press Herald - February 18, 2025
"That critique of how Trump and Musk are slashing government agencies caught Musk’s attention. On X, Musk shared a post with his 200 million followers that said: 'blind director of watchdog group funded by George Soros testifies that he does not see widespread evidence of government waste,' followed by two laughing emojis ... After being amplified by Musk, that post garnered millions of views and sparked similar trolling by people who also went after Hedtler-Gaudette’s disability ... 'It didn’t have anything to do with the merits of my testimony. It was all focused on my blindness,' he said. 'It was really juvenile, petty, ableist and anti-blindness bigotry.'"
Now seems to be a good time to figure out how to process and respond to petty and very public ableism like this. It's a problem related to but also distinct from more concrete assaults on disabled people's civil rights, employment opportunities, or financial and medical supports. How does the sheer insult of making fun of disabled people, individually and because of their disabilities, fit into the broader challenges disabled people are facing right now? It's something less than mass firings and Medicaid cuts, but also something more substantial than an uptick in using ableist slurs with no particular context. As disability activists step up public opposition to Trump administration policies, it will be interesting to see if their actual disabilities will be used against them rhetorically this way, in an attempt to invalidate them and their arguments.
ESA astronaut with physical disability medically cleared for ISS missions
Jeff Foust, Space News - February 16, 2025
"The European Space Agency announced Feb. 14 that John McFall, a reserve member of the agency’s astronaut corps, had been certified by a multinational medical board for long-duration missions to the ISS ... The certification is noteworthy because McFall lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident at the age of 19 and wears a prosthesis. He is the first person with such a disability to be medically approved to train for missions to the station."
This is far from the most important disability news story happening at the moment. I just like keeping track of this guy's progress on the way to getting into space.
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