Wheels On Down the Road

Presidents Shouldn’t Get to Undo Progress With a Pen Stroke

white house

Written by

Levi

in

The United States has a problem. A structural one. A whiplash problem.

This past week made it impossible to ignore. First, reports surfaced about a potential rollback of the EPA’s Endangerment Finding. Then came news that the U.S. had pulled out of UNESCO—again. And just to round things out? Federal cuts to public media, already triggering layoffs at PBS and NPR stations across the country.

It forced me to take a deeper dive. What I found was unsettling. It was not entirely surprising. Our system gives one person, one president, the power to reverse decades of policy and progress. This happens with little to no input from Congress or the public.

Worse yet, I learned that the U.S. has still not fully committed to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). This is a global framework modeled on our own ADA. Somehow, even that fell victim to partisan whiplash.

This isn’t just bad policy. It’s bad structure. Every new administration brings a chance for hard-won progress to be erased with the stroke of a pen. A new administration comes in with different values. Suddenly, the country’s climate policy, civil rights posture, or global commitments disappear swiftly.

Case in Point: The Recent EPA Endangerment Finding

On July 22, 2025, The New York Times reported that the Trump administration is considering rescinding the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Endangerment Finding.” This serves as the legal foundation for regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. It was established back in 2009, after a thorough scientific and legal review. Undoing it now would undermine U.S. climate policy just as the world teeters on the brink of irreversible climate damage.

Let’s be clear. If one president can erase a foundational legal finding like that, it occurs without new evidence. It happens without congressional approval and without public accountability. Then what we have isn’t a democracy. It’s a monarchy with a four‑year contract.

We left UNESCO… Again.

Just days ago, the U.S. withdrew, again, from UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. This is not the first time. We left under Reagan. We rejoined under Bush. Left again under Trump. Rejoined under Biden. And now here we are. Again.

UNESCO isn’t some niche club. It helps coordinate global efforts to preserve culture. It promotes science education. It also protects free expression.

This is particularly important in marginalized communities around the world. Walking away doesn’t just hurt our international credibility. It also impacts LGBTQ+ educators, disabled students, and scientists in the U.S. who benefit from cross-border collaboration.

Public Media: More Than TV and Radio

This political power play extends to PBS and NPR. These are institutions trusted by millions. They are now being targeted simply because one administration disagrees with their editorial mandates.

  • In June, the U.S. House narrowly passed legislation rescinding $1.1 billion in funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports both NPR and PBS
  • The Senate followed suit with a 51–48 vote in mid‑July to finalize the cuts for fiscal years 2026–27
  • According to a recent Star Tribune article Twin Cities PBS (TPT) laid off staff promptly on July 22. They stated they had no choice after the federal funding loss.

These cuts aren’t abstract they’re local, tangible, and affecting real people right now:

  • Rural and tribal stations are especially vulnerable, with many relying on CPB for over half their budget
  • The National Public Radio editor-in-chief will step down as top staff endure this turmoil

Why This Matters

This isn’t just about classical music and Frontline documentaries. Public media are key sources for independent journalism, civic education, emergency alerts, and cultural programming. De-funding them isn’t a symbolic gesture. It leaves news deserts and diminishes local voices. It also disrupts support services for underrepresented communities across formats inclusive of disability and LGBTQ+ issues.

A Missed Opportunity: The CRPD

The CRPD, adopted by the U.N. in 2006, cements a full spectrum of rights for disabled people—from accessibility and legal capacity to education and nondiscrimination. Read it here (PDF).

The U.S. signed in 2009, but failed in the Senate by just five votes in 2012. Opponents claimed it threatened American sovereignty, overlooking that it mirrors our own Americans with Disabilities Act.

Ratifying the CRPD would:

  • Reinforce civil rights for disabled Americans abroad,
  • Elevate U.S. leadership globally in disability inclusion,
  • Offer solidarity to over a billion disabled people worldwide—even as domestic advocacy continues.

Yet, just like public broadcasting, that commitment can vanish at the will of one person.

This Hurts Real People, Not Just Policy Nerds

These aren’t isolated incidents. They’re symptoms of an administration-centric system that thrives on the absence of guardrails—and here’s who suffers most:

  • LGBTQ+ Rights: Anti-discrimination enforcement under Title IX or federal healthcare regs can vanish or reappear depending on the day’s wind.
  • Public Media Access: Rural disabled listeners lose these lifelines almost overnight. Deaf communities rely on accurate closed captioning. LGBTQ+ youth tune in to inclusive programming.
  • Disability Policy: We haven’t ratified the CRPD. Executive orders often set protections that can be undone. This illustrates how brittle our rights framework still is.

What Needs to Happen

Here’s how we fix the structural rot:

  1. Mandate Congressional Approval for Major Executive Withdrawals:
    If presidents need a vote to enter, they should need one to leave.
  2. Codify Protections into Statute:
    The Endangerment Finding, Title IX, ADA interpretations, and more must be hard law, not easily revoked.
  3. Ratify the CRPD
    Transform disability rights from fragile executive fiat to durable international commitment.
  4. Set Up Public Review Mechanisms:
    Major decisions, like de-funding PBS/PBS or leaving UNESCO, should need public hearings and community feedback.

Final Thought: Rights Shouldn’t Be Reversible

Rights aren’t privileges. Civic trusts shouldn’t expire when a new President moves in. Whether environmental safeguards, civil protections, public media, or global disability frameworks the template shouldn’t wobble with the Washington weather.

That’s not democracy. That’s not leadership. It’s short‑term thinking.

We deserve better. Our communities deserve better. And the next four-year spin cycle shouldn’t decide whether we have them at all.

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