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Mother Jones; Allison Bailey\/SOPA\/Zuma; Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n On January 22, <\/span>Josh Josa, who is deaf, was put on administrative leave from his job at the United States Agency for International Development. Josa worked in USAID\u2019s office of DEIA, or Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility, helping in part to make sure that the work supported by the agency\u2019s $40 billion<\/a> in global development aid\u2014prior to the Trump administration\u2019s destruction<\/a> of USAID\u2014was inclusive to prospective and current workers with disabilities.<\/p>\n \u201cOur access to our government systems was severed, so we were basically in the dark for a few months, and we kept getting different memos with different [reduction in force] dates,\u201d Josa said.<\/p>\n By the time he was laid off in April, it was expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Josa is still unemployed. \u201cSince this new administration took office, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities has increased at triple the normal rate of unemployment,\u201d said Josa, who worked for the federal government for over a decade. \u201cPeople with disabilities, it\u2019s harder for them to find jobs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Under Trump, \u201cthe unemployment rate for people with disabilities has increased at triple the normal rate.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n In my conversations with more than a dozen former federal employees with disabilities who were laid off under the second Trump administration, a common theme emerged: They found the federal government to be an extremely accommodating employer. That added an extra layer of grief to their terminations\u2014would their next job actually support them?<\/p>\n That\u2019s especially true amid intense White House pushes for deregulation and against workers\u2019 rights. October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, but where they might have been participating in celebratory events at their former federal jobs in a normal year, laid-off disabled federal workers are wondering what\u2019s next for them\u2014and reminiscing on what it was like to work for an accessible employer.<\/p>\n <\/strong>Until the new administration came to power, Vanessa McMains\u2019 job \u201cwas perfect.\u201d McMains started working for the National Institutes of Health as a science writer in February 2024, after developing disabilities including fibromyalgia, following repeated Covid infections. At NIH, where McMains enjoyed writing pieces on topics like the molecular and cellular mechanisms behind bodily systems, accommodations for remote work helped her manage her symptoms\u2014and the agency\u2019s work culture, she said, was very understanding.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were just like, \u2018We want you to be your best, and if you don\u2019t feel well enough to come in, don\u2019t come in,\u2019\u201d McMains recalled. <\/p>\n But McMains was terminated in February\u2014and so were her bosses.<\/p>\n Sara Fernandez, who was the acting deputy chief of staff for the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, received a reduction-in-force notice in late May. Fernandez, who has dwarfism and ADHD, felt anger and shock\u2014and relief.<\/p>\n\n