Trump signed EO 14321 directing DOJ to dismantle ADA Olmstead protections and expand forced civil commitment of homeless people with disabilities

On July 24, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14321, titled "Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets," declaring a federal policy of expanding civil commitment and directing the Attorney General to seek "the reversal of Federal or State judicial precedents and the termination of consent decrees" that limit institutionalization. The order directly targets Olmstead v. L.C. (1999), the Supreme Court ruling holding that unjustified institutional segregation of people with disabilities constitutes unlawful discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The order simultaneously terminates federal support for housing-first programs and conditions all discretionary grants on states and municipalities enforcing criminal bans on urban camping, loitering, and squatting.

The civil commitment standard proposed in EO 14321 — institutionalizing people who "cannot care for themselves" — falls below the constitutional minimum the Supreme Court established in Addington v. Texas (1979), which requires clear and convincing evidence of danger to oneself or others before the state may confine an individual. Disability rights advocates noted that the order effectively seeks to codify a policy of forced segregation for homeless people with mental illness or substance use disorders. The ABA Commission on Disability Rights characterized it as "a sweeping misuse of federal power to promote a policy that segregates individuals with disabilities from society." The Arc of Northern Virginia documented that implementation of the order would expose states to federal grant conditions that penalize them for maintaining community-integration services that Olmstead requires.