Origin: Legal Action Filed Against Trump Administration

The National Association of the Deaf and two of its members filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to stop providing American Sign Language interpreters at public press briefings and similar events. They sued President Trump, Chief of Staff Susan Wiles, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and several White House offices in Washington, D.C., arguing the cutoff blocks deaf and hard of hearing people from meaningfully accessing government information and services. The government had provided ASL interpretation for pandemic briefings after a 2020 court order and then voluntarily for all press briefings by key officials starting in 2021 before ending the practice in January 2025.

The complaint says the move violates the Rehabilitation Act, which bars executive agencies from discriminating against people with disabilities, and the First Amendment by denying a right to receive information and to petition the government. It also claims a Fifth Amendment violation for unequal treatment and for burdening those First Amendment rights. The plaintiffs ask the court for short-term and lasting orders requiring ASL interpreters at press briefings and similar events, and for a declaration that the policy is unlawful.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources