On May 16, the Department of Energy proposed eliminating accessibility requirements for more than 17,000 federally funded buildings used by millions of Americans. The agency claimed the change was “non-controversial,” issuing it as a direct final rule that bypasses the standard public notice and comment process.

This is not only the first reversal of federal civil rights protections on this scale in U.S. history, it is also procedurally unprecedented. The department is exploiting a shortcut designed for routine, non-substantive adjustments to decimate the right to equal access and block taxpayers from working in or even entering spaces they pay to support.

Outside of disability advocacy publications, this story has received zero national news coverage.

The media have a curious pattern when it comes to coverage of the rights of people with disabilities. In 2024, more than 40 national and even international media outlets — at least six major U.S. publications among them — devoted coverage to a woman in New York who won a $165,000 settlement in a dispute over her three emotional-support parrots.

In May, The New York Times gave front-page treatment to one female police officer in California accused of faking a disability. The media ignored a report from the office of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) estimating that 67,000 Americans — roughly the population of Palo Alto — could die in 2025 while waiting for disability benefits due to proposed Social Security staffing cuts.

Unfortunately, the media rarely portray people with disabilities, and particularly women and those with invisible conditions, as real people deserving of rights. Instead, we are cast in roles: inspirational angels or........

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