Abstract

What political leaders say about disability reflects whose rights are prioritized and how equitably education systems serve students with disabilities. This paper presents a systematic discourse analysis of public statements about people with disabilities made by White House and Cabinet officials, and proposed federal bills affecting individuals with disabilities during 2025. Using structured, AI-supported methods grounded in Critical Discourse Analysis and the human rights model of disability, we collected, validated, and scored statements and bills on a 4-point scale ranging from valuing (4) to dehumanizing (1) people with disabilities. Of 121 validated public statements, 73.6% were deficit-oriented, critical, or harmful: 39.7% included hate speech or ableist language, and 33.9% employed a critical or deficit-based frame. In contrast, 92.0% of disability-related bills (n = 32) reflected valuing language, although education-specific bills were more negatively framed, with 42.9% using a deficit lens. Findings are discussed in relation to students’ federal educational rights.