Congresswomen Simon, Dingell and Senators Warren, Duckworth Lead Democrats in Demanding Labor Secretary Explain Elimination of Key Protections, Programs for Workers with[...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12), Chair of the Bipartisan Disability Caucus Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06), and Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) led 56 members of Congress in demanding answers from Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer about the Department of Labor's (DOL) dismantling of key disability employment protections.

The Members demand answers on the rollback of Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (which prohibits discrimination by federal contractors) regulations, proposed defunding and cutting of key staff from the Department of Labor's (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), proposed additional cuts to the Office of Disability Employment (ODEP), and a withdrawn proposed rule that would have finally ensured competitive wages for disabled workers.

The members state in the letter:

"[Y]our actions as Secretary of Labor represent the most significant retreat from opportunities for workers with disabilities and federal disability rights enforcement in decades…

"The disability community deserves leadership that expands employment opportunities…you have instead continued a systematic dismantling of decades of bipartisan progress that has measurably improved employment opportunities and quality of life for millions of Americans with disabilities."

The members asked Secretary Chavez DeRemer to provide clarity by December 11, 2025 on her decisions to eliminate these protections and how the Department plans to fulfill its legal obligations to workers with disabilities without those regulations.

Congresswoman Simon is the first congenitally blind member to serve in Congress and a leader in the disability policy space. In October 2025, Representatives Simon, McBath and DeSaulnier ledtheir colleagues in a letter to the Department of Education and the Office of Management and Budget condemning layoffs in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. In September 2025, Congresswoman Simon ledher colleagues in a letter to the Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer expressing alarm at the Department's failure to protect federal contractors with disabilities . Additionally, during Disability Pride Month, Congresswoman Simon and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) introducedthe Disability and Age in Jury Service Nondiscrimination Act, legislation to prohibit the exclusion or disqualification of disabled or elderly jurors in federal jury service. In June 2025, Congresswoman Simon's bipartisan bill to expand employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and help small businesses become more accessibleunanimously passed the House of Representatives. In May 2025, Congresswomen Simon and Jahana Hayes (D-CT-05) introducedthe See the Board Act, legislation directing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to make grants available to nonprofits that provide free, mobile vision services for K-12 students in public schools.

You can read the letter text here, and find more on the letter below.

Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Representatives Alma Adams (D-N.C.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Donald Beyer (D-Va.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), Cleo Fields (D-La.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Julie Johnson (D-Texas), Bill Keating (D-Mass.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), John Mannion (D-N.Y.), Sarah McBride (D-Del.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Kelly Morrison (D-Minn.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Emily Randall (D-Wash.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii) joined in signing the letter.

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