Words Matter Act of 2025

This bill updates federal law to remove outdated and hurtful terms like “mentally retarded” and “mental retardation,” replacing them with “intellectual disability” or similar respectful language across many programs and laws, such as military family medical care, Medicaid and Medicare long-term care, housing programs, criminal law, school lunch and child nutrition, and civil rights protections for people in institutions .

It also tells federal agencies to update their regulations to use the new terms. Until those rules are updated, any old terms in existing regulations will be read as the new terms. The bill makes clear that these word changes do not change who qualifies for services, benefits, or protections, and do not force states to change their own laws.

• Who is affected: People with intellectual disabilities; federal agencies that run health, housing, nutrition, and justice programs .
• What changes: Replaces outdated terms with respectful language; no changes to eligibility, coverage, or rights; agencies must revise their rules, and old terms in rules count as the new terms until updated.
• When: Agencies are directed to update their regulations; in the meantime, the new wording applies when reading older rules.