Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Disability Rights Watch (US)

Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · 12h

The specifics of the RIFs I’ve seen in group chats have been staggering. Bracing & reminding myself these are specifically intended to cause fear & distress.

Please share URLs for any good trackers you seen as they emerge. (I want more than OMB’s version) fedscoop.com/trump-federa...

Table of how many federal employees have been laid off in the latest RIF (Reduction in Force). This is from an OMB legal filing from Oct 10. For each agency, it lists number of fired employees, RIF notice date, and whether the administrations has recalled any of those employees to do work. Total headcount is 4,100 across 8 agencies. Treasury (1446) and HHS (1200) are the most affected. EPA (30) had the fewest layoffs this time.

2 54 96

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · 12h

Official letters are saying date of separation as 12/9.

1 5

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · 12h

Breaking: per internal sources, the entire Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), including OSEP and RSA beneath them, was RIFed last night at the Department of Ed. Developing story. DoEd union says may take 1-2 days for all affected employees to receive official notice.

5 99 100

Reposted by Disability Rights Watch (US)

Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 4d

For National Disability Employment Awareness Month at @motherjones.com, I spoke to four disabled federal workers who were laid off about how their old jobs were very accessible—and what the federal government loses out on by having fewer disabled employees. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The human costs of Trump's war on government

For many disabled workers, federal jobs were decent, human, and accommodating: everything the president hates.

www.motherjones.com

2 120 220

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · 6d

bsky.app/profile/disr...

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · 6d

We're back, with a lot of action items for you, and none of them is RSVPing to a protest 😉
www.disability-rights-watch.com/2025/10/05/w...

Week 36 + 37 Updates - Disability Rights Watch

RFK Jr. and Trump deliver multiple anti-scientific rants about Tylenol and vaccines in connection to autism. After promising to find the "cause" for autism by September, HHS's RFK Jr. delivered a seri...

www.disability-rights-watch.com

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · 6d

We're back, with a lot of action items for you, and none of them is RSVPing to a protest 😉
www.disability-rights-watch.com/2025/10/05/w...

Week 36 + 37 Updates - Disability Rights Watch

RFK Jr. and Trump deliver multiple anti-scientific rants about Tylenol and vaccines in connection to autism. After promising to find the "cause" for autism by September, HHS's RFK Jr. delivered a seri...

www.disability-rights-watch.com

1

Reposted by Disability Rights Watch (US)

David DeWitt @daviddewitt.bsky.social · 17d

Without congressional action, 7 million people who buy health insurance on Affordable Care Act marketplaces will pay much higher premiums next year. Close to 5 million wouldn't be able to absorb the price hike and would lose coverage, a new analysis shows ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/09/24/r...

Close to 5M could become uninsured if Congress doesn’t extend subsidies, report says • Ohio Capital Journal

Without congressional action, 7 million people who buy their health insurance on Affordable Care Act marketplaces would pay much higher premiums next year. Close to 5 million wouldn't be able to…

ohiocapitaljournal.com

5 7

Reposted by Disability Rights Watch (US)

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 17d

WHO rejects Trump’s claims of link between Tylenol and autism

Body says research has found ‘no consistent association’ and urges pregnant women to follow doctors’ advice The World Health Organization (WHO) is pushing back against contested claims by the Trump administration that acetaminophen use during pregnancy heightens the risk of autism, further underscoring that no scientific consensus supports such a connection. “Extensive research, including large-scale studies over the past decade, has found no consistent association,” the agency said in a Wednesday statement. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

41 130 510

Reposted by Disability Rights Watch (US)

Sara Nović @novicsara.bsky.social · 19d

Today's HHS announcement is expected to be that tylenol during pregnancy causes autism, and that the cure is folinic acid.

Where do you get the cure? From Dr. Oz's iHerb supplement grift of course!

I've been waiting to see the grift angle for this nonsense, and here it is.

15 90 330

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · 21d

Oh look! It's two weeks' worth of bad news! 😵‍💫 www.disability-rights-watch.com/2025/09/20/w...

Weeks 34+35 - Disability Rights Watch

Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends calls for the mass murder of unhoused people. The discussion, about how to handle growing populations of unhoused people, especially those who are mentally ill, Kilmead...

www.disability-rights-watch.com

2 4

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · 21d

www.disability-rights-watch.com/2025/09/20/w...

Weeks 34+35 - Disability Rights Watch

Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends calls for the mass murder of unhoused people. The discussion, about how to handle growing populations of unhoused people, especially those who are mentally ill, Kilmead...

www.disability-rights-watch.com

1

Reposted by Disability Rights Watch (US)

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 22d

The ACIP vote was tied 6-6 for requiring everyone to get a prescription for the COVID19 vaccine.

The chair broke the tie by voting NO.

Prescriptions will NOT be required.

170 1.4K 6.1K

Reposted by Disability Rights Watch (US)

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 28d

In a shocking on-air moment, a “Fox and Friends” co-host said homeless people suffering from mental health issues who refuse help should be killed

'Just Kill 'Em': Fox Host Makes Shocking Comment On Homeless People

"Fox and Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade made a jaw-dropping remark while discussing homelessness and mental health.

www.huffpost.com

1.7K 4.2K 11K

Reposted by Disability Rights Watch (US)

Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · Sep 10

As always, great thread from @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social

Important points on how Florida dropping vaccine reqs will not only lower vaccination rates... but also lead to missed screenings for asthma, anemia, vision/hearing, nutrition, and developmental delays.

Your Local Epidemiologist @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social · Sep 9

1/ Happy Tuesday! This week’s update is a day late because I spent the weekend fully unplugging with friends—highly recommend. That said, today we're breaking down Covid-19 vaccine access, flu on the horizon, grandparents organizing, Florida’s school rollback, and food safety cuts. Let’s dive 👇

2 26 88

Reposted by Disability Rights Watch (US)

C.H. Romatowski @chromatowski.bsky.social · Sep 9

I will say, if an overview is the most helpful format for you, @thesicktimes.org is doing a great job with that. (It’s just different from providing access to the full details of the conference.)

Live blog: RECOVER-TLC workshop on new Long COVID clinical trials - The Sick Times

Researchers and advocates meet near the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus this week in Bethesda, Maryland for the second RECOVER-Treating Long COVID (TLC) workshop. The two-day event will off...

thesicktimes.org

1 5 16

Reposted by Disability Rights Watch (US)

Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · Sep 9

BREAKING: Susan Monarez, forced out by RFK Jr as CDC director, to testify in front of Senate panel next week.

Monarez has said RFK Jr pressured her around vaccines.

RFK Jr has said she was untrustworthy.

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Fired CDC director who clashed with RFK Jr. set to testify in Senate

The hearing would give Susan Monarez a high-profile opportunity to respond to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claims about her ethics and their conversations about vaccines.

www.washingtonpost.com

120 1.4K 5.5K

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · Sep 7

bsky.app/profile/disr...

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · Sep 7

Are we just an RFK hate site now?
www.disability-rights-watch.com/2025/09/07/w...

Week 33 Updates - Disability Rights Watch

Chaos hits pharmacies as CDC's delayed approval of covid vax causes confusion, barriers to access. Covid surged to the highest levels in the US since the 2021 Delta variant--in response, CDC stopped t...

www.disability-rights-watch.com

1

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · Sep 7

Are we just an RFK hate site now?
www.disability-rights-watch.com/2025/09/07/w...

Week 33 Updates - Disability Rights Watch

Chaos hits pharmacies as CDC's delayed approval of covid vax causes confusion, barriers to access. Covid surged to the highest levels in the US since the 2021 Delta variant--in response, CDC stopped t...

www.disability-rights-watch.com

1 4

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · Aug 31

bsky.app/profile/disr...

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · Aug 31

RFK Jr. on a special kind of eugenic rampage this week (and other horrors) www.disability-rights-watch.com/2025/08/31/w...

Week 32 Updates - Disability Rights Watch

1. RFK Jr's eugenic rampage continues to burn through the Department of Health and Human Services. RFK fired Susan Moneraz, Director of the Centers for Disease Control, throwing an already tumultuous ...

www.disability-rights-watch.com

1

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · Aug 31

bsky.app/profile/disr...

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · Aug 25

🎶 It was crime at the time, but the laws we changed 'em🎵
www.disability-rights-watch.com/2025/08/25/w...

Week 31 Updates - Disability Rights Watch

1. Starting tonight, the National Guard in DC will be armed, as Trump plans a deployment in 19 more states. As other states' National Guard and federal DHS agents stage a hostile takeover of Washingto...

www.disability-rights-watch.com

1

Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · Aug 31

RFK Jr. on a special kind of eugenic rampage this week (and other horrors) www.disability-rights-watch.com/2025/08/31/w...

Week 32 Updates - Disability Rights Watch

1. RFK Jr's eugenic rampage continues to burn through the Department of Health and Human Services. RFK fired Susan Moneraz, Director of the Centers for Disease Control, throwing an already tumultuous ...

www.disability-rights-watch.com

4 32 55

Reposted by Disability Rights Watch (US)

Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · Aug 30

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/w...

Pediatric Brain Cancer Group to Lose Federal Funding

www.nytimes.com

23 130 470

Reposted by Disability Rights Watch (US)

Dani M. ❌👑 @danielleloveswords.bsky.social · Aug 30

Did you know Trump is launching AI death panels for Medicare? His admin. is hiring private companies to use AI to determine whether patients would be covered for certain procedures. The AI companies will get a cut of the “savings,” incentivizing them to deny care.

open.substack.com/pub/messageb...

Urgent Saturday Message: Trump's Launches AI Death Panels!

Trump is implementing a devastating, dystopian plan to make Medicare more like private insurance

open.substack.com

14 160 180

Reposted by Disability Rights Watch (US)

Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · Aug 29

Dr. Dmitri Daskalakis, who resigned from the CDC says that RFKJr said he believes that Avian flu should be allowed to "burn through" the chickens and then children and others, so we can propagate a "stronger species". RFKJr believes in eugenics.

RFKJr needs to resign or be fired.

140 1.4K 3.7K