WASHINGTON – For New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, it felt personal watching more than 120 jobs tied to special education disappear during the U.S. government shutdown.
As part of an effort to pressure Democrats like her into voting to end the ongoing budget crisis that now stretches into its third week, President Donald Trump ordered massive layoffs across the federal workforce. The firings included roughly a fifth of the U.S. Department of Education – and nearly everyone in its special education division, per court documents and the agency's union.
That's particularly painful to Hassan, a second-term lawmaker and former governor with a now-adult son, Ben, who was born almost four decades ago with cerebral palsy, a neurological condition that affects movement and posture. While in school, the senator's son needed some of the very programs that now have an uncertain fate without people to manage them.
Read more: Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says
"This is a real blow to children and families all across the country," Hassan told USA TODAY in an interview. "I don’t have constituents asking me to shut the door on kids with disabilities."
