On Tuesday, Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate, with the largest House majority in nearly two decades. Two days later, Harmeet Dhillon resigned as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. CNN described her as the first senior official to leave the administration since the midterms.
People in the accessibility space are asking me what this election changes for us. Boiled down, Congress can help in several concrete ways. It cannot direct DOJ, and rebuilding federal enforcement will take years. And Dhillon’s resignation matters because the Civil Rights Division handles most of the federal ADA enforcement.
Here’s the context. The Disability Rights Section sits inside the Civil Rights Division. It investigates ADA complaints against state and local governments and businesses, negotiates settlement agreements, and enforces the integration mandate from Olmstead. When the division loses capacity, ADA enforcement loses capacity.
1. What happened to the Civil Rights Division
The division lost a great deal. According to CBS News, more than 75% of its staff departed during Dhillon’s tenure. NPR reported that roughly 300 attorneys were pushed out and replaced with less experienced hires, and that the division shifted its focus toward a different set of priorities which did not include disability enforcement.
Career civil rights lawyers carry years of knowledge about how a Title II investigation actually works: which documents to request, how to read a self-evaluation, what a credible remediation timeline looks like, and which jurisdictions have a history of making promises they do not keep. A new Assistant Attorney General does not bring that knowledge back. You have to hire and train people to rebuild it.
The good news? A Democratic House and Senate have several tools that bear on disability rights.
2. What the new Congress can do
We need to get the right successor to Dhillon.
Starting in January, Democrats will control the Senate. That gives senators leverage to insist on a nominee who will enforce the ADA, Section 504, and the Olmstead integration mandate, and to ask tough questions about disability enforcement during the hearing.
They can also strengthen oversight, by enabling committees to hold hearings and request data. I would like to see a full public accounting of how many disability complaints the division received since 2025, how many it opened, how many it closed without action, and how many settlement agreements it allowed to lapse without agreed-to monitoring.
Because Congress controls the division’s budget, it can direct funding toward rebuilding the Disability Rights Section’s attorney and investigator headcount, which is the only way enforcement capacity comes back.
This overlaps with Medicaid funding, which is the thing that affects the daily lives of people with disabilities the most. NBC News noted that a Democratic Congress will have leverage to push back on recent Medicaid cuts. Medicaid funds the home and community-based services that let many disabled people live in their own homes instead of institutions. Interpret any healthcare package from this Congress with that in mind.
3. What the new Congress cannot do
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. The new majority is limited as the executive branch still runs DOJ. Congress does not choose which cases the Civil Rights Division opens. The Attorney General and the President will continue to do so through January 2029.
- Legislation can be vetoed. A Democratic Congress can pass bills, but it cannot override a veto without Republican votes. This may be easier after January 2027, as the message from the people was clear in the midterms; they were not happy with the changes instituted since January 2025.
- Courts are unchanged. The election did not change the federal judiciary, which will continue to decide what the ADA and Section 504 mean. This includes the Supreme Court, which still has a conservative majority and will likely be that way for a long time.
- Rebuilding takes years. Even with full funding and a strong nominee, hiring and training hundreds of experienced civil rights attorneys will take several years.
4. What I am telling Title II clients
Many of the cities, counties, colleges, and libraries I work with have quietly asked, “Do changes in federal enforcement or possible delays mean we don’t really have to worry anymore?”
I’ll continue to give the same answer I’ve given for 18 months now. Neither the current delays to Title II nor this election changes the laws already in effect.
- The Title II web and mobile accessibility rule is in the Code of Federal Regulations. Reduced or delayed federal enforcement doesn’t change your obligations.
- The Title II rule is less likely to be canceled outright. Organizations coming under this regulation should not base their accessibility strategy on presuming another delay. With the Blue Wave, delays are now less likely.
- Private enforcement never stopped. Individuals and advocacy organizations can sue under Title II and Section 504 regardless of who runs DOJ. With AI tools making pro se litigation easier, I expect these cases to grow.
- Investigators will ask, “What have you done since 2025?” They will not accept “we thought there would be another delay” as a justifiable reason for not getting compliant.
- Procurement is where you control risk. Inaccessible products you buy now become remediation projects later. Don’t buy broken things that you will later have to accommodate.
"Don’t buy broken things" is also the name of the procurement training we deliver to other Title II organizations maturing their accessibility governance and policies.
A transformation like this takes at least 18 months. Don’t feel bad if you haven’t gotten started. But you should really get started.
If you’re not sure what your Title II compliance status is right now, or how to prioritize all this work the right way with a limited staff and budget…
If you’d like, I can help you figure out where you are right now, build a remediation roadmap, and help you get to the bipartisan holy land of ADA compliance. It won’t be overnight, but I’ll help you get there.
5. What the disability community should ask for
We have about two months before the new Congress is sworn in. That is enough time to organize a short, specific list of requests. Mine would include:
- A Civil Rights Division nominee with documented ADA enforcement experience
- Public reporting on Disability Rights Section complaint intake and case outcomes since 2025
- Oversight hearings that include disabled witnesses along with former DOJ staff
- Dedicated appropriations to restore Disability Rights Section staffing
- Restoration of Medicaid funding for home and community-based services
- Hiring practices at a rebuilt division that bring in attorneys and investigators with disabilities, whose lived experience is relevant subject matter expertise
Disabled voters helped elect this Congress. The new majority should hear from us early and in detail, before the 2027 agenda is set.
Is the April 26th compliance deadline on your 2027 agenda?
Again, if you’d like to talk shop, me and the AccessAbility Officer team would love to help you unpack the world of WCAG.