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Advocacy Watch: Texas v. Kennedy
September 28, 2026
What is Texas v. Kennedy?
Texas v. Kennedy is a federal court case about Section 504. Section 504 is a federal law that protects people with disabilities from discrimination. It applies to programs and organizations that receive money from the federal government. The case challenged parts of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 2024 rules for Section 504.
The 2024 regulations included detailed requirements related to community integration, including providing services in the most integrated setting appropriate to a person’s needs.
On September 23, 2026, the federal court approved a joint request from the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the states remaining in the lawsuit and entered final judgment. The court removed the community-integration provisions from the 2024 Section 504 regulations nationwide and closed the case.
What does this mean?
The ruling does not eliminate Section 504. It also does not change the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C., which established that unnecessary institutionalization of people with disabilities can constitute discrimination under the ADA.
Those laws and legal protections remain in effect. The court’s ruling specifically removes the community-integration provisions from the 2024 HHS Section 504 regulations.
What could this mean for people with disabilities in South Carolina?
For people with disabilities in South Carolina, the ruling does not mean that the right to live in the community has been eliminated or that people can now be forced into institutions.
Section 504, the ADA, and Olmstead remain in place. However, removing the HHS regulatory language could affect how federal agencies interpret and enforce some community-integration rights and how courts handle future legal proceedings.
This matters for people who rely on Medicaid, health care, mental health services, disability services, housing supports, and other publicly funded services that help them live in their homes and communities.
DRSC will continue to monitor developments and share updates as they become available.