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Trump Officials Plan To Limit Army's Preference For Blind Vendors

5 months ago 95

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The Department of the Army plans to “limit” a longstanding contracting preference the federal government has given to blind vendors, according to a notice scheduled to be published in the federal register this week.

The notice states that Army dining halls will no longer give blind applicants the same priority after the Trump administration determined doing so “adversely affects the interests of the United States.”

The decision was made by Trump’s education secretary, Linda McMahon, the former professional wrestling CEO, according to the notice. The Education Department oversees what’s known as the Randolph-Sheppard Vending Facility Program, which was created during the Great Depression to help integrate blind workers into the U.S. workforce due to discrimination.

An Education Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Nor did the agency official listed on the notice as the contact for questions.

The change at the Army appears to be part of Trump’s broader attack on any government policy aimed at boosting underrepresented groups in the country’s workforce. Advocacy groups representing workers with disabilities could end up suing in an attempt to stop it, arguing the change is unlawful.

HuffPost reported during the government shutdown that the Education Department planned to lay off a group of blind staffers who administer the Randolph-Sheppard program within the federal government, putting its future in doubt. The layoffs were stopped — at least temporarily — due to the deal Democrats reached with Republicans to reopen the government.

The notice states that the Department of the Army currently has at least 23 dining facility contracts that were awarded through the program. There are more than 1,000 licensed blind vendors across the country, many of them helping provide concessions on military bases.

“Based on the Department of the Army’s representations, it is clear that the Randolph-Sheppard priority hinders the Department of the Army’s ability to act swiftly, efficiently, and cost-effectively in procuring and managing [dining] contracts, which negatively impacts the availability and quality of food options for the nation’s warfighters,” it states.

Although the notice alludes to some examples the department cast as wasteful, it does not mention any comprehensive analysis finding the preference for blind vendors has hurt the Army.

Trump’s secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, has criticized the program in the past. He appeared on a podcast in October and claimed the program was being abused and taken advantage of by people who don’t actually have disabilities, forcing the Defense Department to pay more than necessary for chicken.

“It’s been interpreted over the years to basically mean we have to prioritize blind people when we go out for our chicken contracts,” Driscoll said.

One of the Education Department employees who received a layoff notice during the shutdown told HuffPost at the time that she was appalled by Driscoll’s portrayal of the program as wasteful.

“The mentality of these people is if we have a disability and we have a job, we’re taking it away from an able-bodied person,” she said.

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