Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has faced wide criticism for moving to close the Administration for Community Living.Doug Chastain/Zuma
On Thursday, House Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) introduced a formal inquiry demanding more information from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the decision to dismantle the Administration for Community Living (ACL), which oversees programs vital to independence and quality of life for disabled and aging adults. Kennedy’s HHS moved to close the agency at the end of March as part of massive layoffs and cuts expected to claim some 10,000 federal jobs and drastically reduce services.
Reps. Scott and Bonamici’s inquiry requests all communications, including meeting notes and legal memos, from both President Donald Trump and Secretary Kennedy that touch on the agency’s proposed elimination, layoffs of ACL employees; discussions on dismissing its leadership, grant terminations, actions related to Kennedy’s ‘‘HHS Announces Transformation to Make America Healthy Again’’ release announcing the move, and evidence of actions showing that laws governing ACL’s congressionally mandated work will still be followed, such as federal compliance with the Older Americans Act and Assistive Technology Act.
“HHS Secretary Kennedy’s decision to eliminate ACL is unacceptable and will be harmful to the millions of Americans who benefit from essential programs like Meals on Wheels,” Bonamici said in a statement. “We are demanding answers about why and how Secretary Kennedy made this harmful decision and will keep up the pressure until it is reversed.”
If the House Education and Workforce committee to which the inquiry is referred does not take action within 14 days, Scott and Bonamici can bring a motion demanding accountability before the House as a whole.
Around 40 percent of the agency’s 200 employees have so far been laid off, including all staff at its efficiency-focused Center for Policy and Evaluation. As one former worker in that center told me after his termination, “I fear this purge will drain the department of crucial disability subject matter expertise and humanity just when we need it most.”
“Millions of Americans rely on Administration for Community Living’s (ACL) services to live independently, participate fully in their community, and avoid costly institutional care,” Scott said in a separate statement. “The Trump Administration’s proposal to eliminate ACL will put the health and well-being of older Americans and people with disabilities in jeopardy.”
As I reported earlier this week, a new draft Health and Human Services budget proposes eliminating funding for the protection and advocacy agencies that investigate abuse at group homes, rather than moving those services elsewhere within HHS— an apparent violation of the 1975 Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, and a case in point of the legal noncompliance that both Scott and Bonamici are concerned will follow ACL’s dismantling.
A copy of the resolution can be read below.
