Court Orders Trump Administration to Restore ASL Interpreters
The National Association of the Deaf sued the White House.
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate real-time American Sign Language interpretation at White House press briefings, ruling that the absence of interpreters likely violates federal disability law.
The decision, issued by US District Judge Amir Ali, came after the National Association of the Deaf and two deaf individuals sued the White House, arguing that the lack of ASL access excluded millions of deaf Americans from understanding official government communications.
Judge Ali found that providing only captions and written transcripts was insufficient because American Sign Language is a distinct language from written English. He said the White House’s failure to provide live interpreters likely violated Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination in federal programs against people with disabilities.
The ruling requires the administration to provide qualified ASL interpreters for all public press briefings conducted by the president or the press secretary. The interpreters must be visible on-screen during live broadcasts.
“This decision ensures that deaf and hard of hearing Americans will once again have equal access to vital information from their government,” the National Association of the Deaf said in a statement.
The Trump administration had previously discontinued the use of live interpreters, relying instead on captioning for accessibility. The court’s order restores a practice first implemented in 2020 following a similar lawsuit during Trump’s previous term.
