by Kofi Oppong Kyekyeku, Face2FaceAfrica.com
The White House is fighting against calls to restore live American Sign Language interpretation at press briefings, arguing in court that such a requirement would interfere with President Donald Trump’s authority to manage how he appears to the public.
That position is laid out in filings from Justice Department lawyers responding to a lawsuit that seeks to compel the administration to provide real-time ASL interpretation for official events. While the government has not spelled out exactly how interpreters would undermine the president’s public presentation, the argument arises as the second Trump administration continues to dismantle policies associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion, a campaign that began in the president’s first days back in office.
The lawsuit was filed in May by the National Association for the Deaf, which contends that ending the use of ASL interpreters amounts to “denying hundreds of thousands of deaf Americans meaningful access to the White House’s real-time communications on various issues of national and international import.” During the Biden administration, ASL interpretation was regularly included at briefings and major announcements. The association previously sued during Trump’s first term, pressing for interpreters during COVID-19 briefings.