Additional Coverage:
Sources familiar with the matter reveal that Stephen Miller played a key role in shaping a recent Department of Justice memo that authorizes states to institutionalize individuals with disabilities. As White House deputy chief of staff and a close adviser to former President Donald Trump, Miller reportedly grew frustrated with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division for continuing to settle cases that pushed states to move people experiencing mental illness out of institutions.
According to insiders speaking to Bloomberg Law on condition of anonymity, Miller believed these settlements would lead to increased homelessness and conflicted with Trump’s executive order aimed at reducing crime and disorder by encouraging cities and states to place unhoused individuals into treatment centers.
The memo, dated June 18 and issued by the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), effectively allows states to disregard decades of Supreme Court precedent requiring the integration of people with disabilities into community settings. Although the Civil Rights Division initially resisted the memo’s direction, the final version aligned closely with Miller’s objectives.
Harmeet Dhillon, head of the DOJ Civil Rights Division and a vocal advocate for aligning the division’s work with Trump’s priorities, has not publicly addressed the disability rights memo, though she remains active on social media. A DOJ spokesperson, Natalie Baldassarre, emphasized that the OLC’s legal opinion was developed independently of Miller or the White House, adding that senior officials in the Civil Rights Division supported its conclusions.
The memo has drawn significant criticism from disability rights advocates, who argue it undermines longstanding community integration protections upheld by courts and supported historically across the political spectrum. These groups express concern that the memo’s stance reverses progress made under rulings like the 1999 Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C., which found that the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits unnecessary segregation of individuals with disabilities.
Miller’s influence extends beyond this issue, as he has been known for spearheading DOJ efforts to increase law enforcement actions in Democratic-led cities and for reshaping the department’s independence during Trump’s second term. The executive order Miller referenced calls for the termination of consent decrees that hinder civil commitment policies intended to help those with mental illness who pose risks to themselves or others or who are homeless and unable to care for themselves.
Notably, the OLC opinion does not provide evidence linking the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision to a rise in homelessness, a point that remains central to the ongoing debate over the memo’s implications for disability rights and state policies.