Lawsuit: Reinstate ASL Translators at White House Briefings

Takeaways

• The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) has filed a lawsuit seeking to compel the White House to resume providing American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters during its press briefings.

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and two plaintiffs are suing the Trump administration to compel the White House to reinstate American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters for all White House press briefings. The lawsuit responds to the Trump administration’s decision to end ASL translations for White House press briefings in January of 2025. Instead, the administration offers captioning and transcripts.

The NAD filed the complaint on May 28 of this year and a federal judge in the District of Columbia is currently deliberating after listening to the oral argument on July 2.

Central Issue

The case addresses the question: Does the White House need to provide ASL interpreters for press briefings to allow Deaf individuals to access the briefings per Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act?

Plaintiffs

Along with the NAD, a civil rights organization, two plaintiffs stand for the hundreds of thousands of Deaf Americans whose first language is ASL. According to the complaint, Derrick Ford and Matthew Bonn both primarily use ASL and have trouble understanding English captions. When ASL interpretations were available from 2021 to January of 2025, they regularly watched White House press briefings. After the Trump administration discontinued ASL interpretations, they had trouble following and keeping up with the briefings. They assert that they need ASL interpretations to understand the briefings: captions are not enough.

Defendants

Defendants named in the lawsuit include the following:

• President Trump in his official capacity
• The Executive Office of the President
• The White House Office
• The Office of the Vice President
• White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles (official capacity)
• Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in (official capacity)

Background

The NAD previously sued the White House demanding ASL interpretations. In 2020, the NAD initiated litigation to compel the White House to include ASL translations in COVID-19 briefings. After the federal court granted the NAD a preliminary injunction on October 1, 2020, the White House began providing an ASL interpreter for all COVID briefings.

When the Biden administration assumed control in 2021, the White House began offering ASL interpreters for all briefings, and these were visible on all communication channels, per the complaint. This policy change prompted NAD to voluntarily dismiss its 2020 suit.

Once the Trump administration took office, the White House ended the ASL interpretations, offering captioning on press briefings and transcripts.

Plaintiff’s Arguments

In their complaint, the NAD plaintiffs assert three claims:

• First, it claims that the failure to provide ASL interpreters for White House press briefings prevents Deaf individuals whose first language is ASL from meaningfully taking part in the briefings in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
• The NAD also argues that the White House has deprived them of their first Amendment right to reciprocal participation in speech.
• Finally, it claims that the federal government violated the Fifth Amendment’s due process provision by treating Deaf individuals differently than others.

Relief Sought

The plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgement and injunctive relief. They ask the court to require the federal government to provide ASL interpretations visible in all press briefings and conferences.

Oral Argument  

According to CNN, during the July 2 argument, the Justice Department argued that captioning and transcripts were enough to allow Deaf individuals access to the press briefings. Although he has yet to issue a ruling, Biden-appointed US District Judge Amir Ali seemed sympathetic to the plaintiffs’ assertion that the White House needs to do more to allow meaningful access.