DOJ Joins Remaining States in Bid to Remove Integration Mandate From Section 504 Rules
On August 31, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), acting on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), filed a proposed resolution of Texas v. Kennedy together with Texas, Florida and Alaska — the remaining plaintiff states in the long-running case. The resolution asks the court to enter an order vacating references to community integration throughout the Section 504 regulations, including the entirety of the integration provision.
The lawsuit challenges the HHS 2024 regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the law that prohibits disability discrimination by recipients of federal funds. The litigation has focused on the regulations' provisions on community integration for people with disabilities. According to the proposed resolution, other portions of the 2024 HHS Section 504 rule would not be affected.
The filing relies on a June 18, 2026 memorandum from the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel that reflects the federal government's reversal of its longstanding interpretation of disability law and of its own enforcement authority. Federal Section 504 regulations have included integration provisions since 1977, and disability advocates note that the resolution would not change the ADA or Section 504 themselves, nor the Supreme Court's Olmstead v. L.C. precedent — only Congress can change the law, they say.
On September 1, a coalition of national disability and civil rights organizations — including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF), which jointly published the statement — strongly condemned the action, saying it "continues the federal government's abandonment of its duty to enforce the right of people with disabilities to live in their own homes and communities." The groups argued the DOJ's new interpretation is "out of step" with how courts across the country have read the law and inconsistent with 50 years of disability rights law.
If the court enters the proposed final judgment, the Section 504 regulations would lose their integration mandate even as the underlying statutes and legal precedent remain intact. Disability rights groups said they will keep opposing the rollback and defending community-based services for people with disabilities as the case moves toward resolution.