Senators Murray, Luján, and Advocates Sound the Alarm on Trump’s Latest Attack on Head Start, Vow to Save Head Start

ICYMI : Senator Murray Slam’s Trump’s Latest Attack on Head Start, Calls on Teachers and Parents to Protect the Program *** WATCH PRESS CONFERENCE HERE , DOWNLOAD HERE *** Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), held a virtual press conference with Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and advocates in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued today by the Department of Health and Human Services that guts Head Start by shredding basic standards that keep kids safe and advance their education. The rule removes most of Head Start’s 133 pages of requirements for math and literacy curriculums, class sizes, medical screenings, home visits and more. Joining the press call were Joel Ryan, Executive Director of the Washington State Association of Head Start; Dr. Ruth Friedman, former Director of the Office of Child Care at the Administration for Children and Families at HHS; and Lori Pittman, a parent from Washington state a Policy, Advocacy, and Government Relations Advisor for Early Learning K-12, and Postsecondary at Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD), and a co-founder of the Washington State Parent Ambassador Program, a statewide initiative supporting parent leadership and advocacy. “ Your child’s safety should not depend on their zip code. That has been the entire point of Head Start since 1965. If they wanted to serve more kids, they could ask Congress for more funding. I’d write that bill this afternoon. Instead, they’re saying they might be able to serve more children by promising each child less. Nobody should pretend this came out of nowhere. President Trump has all but declared war on Head Start,” said Senator Murray. “This rule is not final. There is a public comment period. I want parents to weigh in. I want teachers to weigh in. Because I have seen what happens when enough ordinary people refuse to let something get ripped away from them. And on my end: I will press administration officials when they come before Congress. I will sound the alarm as loudly as I possibly can. I will carry this fight into every negotiation I walk into. And Congress just funded Head Start at an increase, on a bipartisan basis, so let me be clear: Congress funds Head Start to be Head Start. Trump is coming after America’s kids. That is so unacceptable. This isn’t partisan. This is a program red and blue states rely on. Parents, teachers, and communities across America need to speak up and speak out—together we will beat this rule and save Head Start.” “I know the value of Head Start, it got me to the U.S. Senate,” said Senator Luján, one of only two U.S. Senators who attended Head Start. “Since President Trump took office, he and his administration have made it harder and harder for young children to get an early education. Now, he is moving forward with a proposed rule to gut Head Start and strip basic education, health, and safety standards our kids rely on. That is why I joined Senator Murray and advocates today and will continue to fight to protect Head Start.” Head Start currently serves over 750,000 kids nationwide, and the program has served more than 40 million children and their families nationwide since its inception in 1965. There are over 17,000 Head Start centers nationwide and these centers are particularly important in serving rural communities with fewer options for care. Throughout his second term, President Trump has gutted the offices that keep Head Start centers and child care programs across the country running. Since taking office, the Trump administration has fired 40 to 50% of the staff at the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care. In April of 2025, Trump continued to hollow out HHS , by shuttering five of the 10 regional offices for both Office of Child Care and Office of Head Start, which served 22 states and five territories. President Trump also illegally impounded funding provided by Congress for Head Start programs across America, in violation of the Impoundment Control Act (ICA). In response, Senator Murray raised alarm bells and she led her colleagues in demanding that the funds get moving. Notably, a leaked memo indicated that the Trump administration—in keeping with Project 2025—would push to completely eliminate Head Start as a part of its FY26 budget request. Ultimately, strong public outcry and backlash prevented the Trump administration from including the elimination of Head Start in its budget request. In April, President Trump said “Don’t send any money for day care, because the United States can’t take care of day care… We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of day care… It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things.” Last year, HHS took steps to attack immigrant children and their families by issuing a notice reinterpreting longstanding guidance under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) to reinterpret Head Start as a federal public benefit subject to immigration restrictions. The guidance, currently tied up in litigation and stalled from being enforced, threw programs and families into chaos, sparking confusion and driving many families to keep their kids at home out of fear of discrimination or immigration enforcement. HHS has also proposed changes to the Head Start Program that would roll back regulations targeted at increasing salaries for the Head Start workforce—one of the top barriers to recruitment and retention leading to fewer children being served. In the face of Trump’s calls to cut investments in state early childhood education programs and repeated attacks on the program, Democrats have consistently defended resources for child care and early childhood education. In March of this year, Senator Murray led her colleagues and established a new working group as the latest major push in Democrats’ fight to lower costs and deliver child care for every American family. The Child Care for America working group will bring Democratic members of Congress together to coordinate broad support for landmark child care legislation. Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below: “You know, this morning, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed shredding the rule book that has protected kids in Head Start for sixty years—133 pages of standards, gutted. And I want to be really concrete about what is in those pages that they are throwing away. “It’s duration requirements—meaning, is the program actually open while parents are working? It’s professional development requirements to make sure that our teachers are equipped to keep our kids safe—that’s everything from instruction on our kids social-emotional development, and training to recognize and report child abuse. It is watering down quality standards for families that want home-based and family-care—like safety requirements: are there play areas? Is there space for food prep? Are the bathrooms up to standard? “It’s class sizes—because there’s a reason Head Start tells providers how many toddlers one adult can supervise. It’s how many kids any one teacher can actually keep safe on a busy day. It’s the medical screenings—for countless families, Head Start is the first place anyone will ever check their child’s hearing, or vision, or teeth. Ignoring these kids’ health today, costs us more tomorrow. It’s eliminating protections that keep a kid with a disability safe from harmful practices like restraint, or seclusion and expulsion—that’s just not something any of us should accept. “And there is one more piece that really doesn’t make sense: this rule forces English-only instruction. There are American children who have different language needs. Denying children instruction in their first language—that’s backwards, and it doesn’t help anyone. Now, the administration has given this rule a very nice name: Reducing Federal Burden. “So, let’s look at what they actually list as burdens: background checks for the adults who are alone in a room with your four-year-old; safety standards for the buses that drive your toddler to school; vision and hearing screenings for your kids. That is not red tape. That’s all important stuff to keep our kids safe and healthy! They want to hand all of it to the states—and if you live in a state that never writes those rules, too bad. “Your child’s safety should not depend on their zip code. That has been the entire point of Head Start since 1965. If they wanted to serve more kids, they could ask Congress for more funding. I would write that bill this afternoon. Instead, they’re saying they might be able to serve more children by promising each child less. “Nobody should pretend this came out of nowhere. President Trump has all but declared war on Head Start. He illegally impounded Head Start funding that Congress passed into law —in violation of the Impoundment Control Act—and centers couldn’t make payroll until we raised the alarm and forced the money out the door. “He fired 40 to 50 percent of the staff at the Office of Head Start and the Office of Child Care. He shut down five of the ten regional offices—which served 22 states and five territories—overnight. “One of those offices was in Seattle. It served every Head Start program in Washington state—15,000 kids. In the Yakima Valley, a provider waiting on funding that never showed up had to lay off 72 employees and shutter a dozen classrooms, that served 400 kids. Now eventually that money came, but only after the layoffs. In Walla Walla, a program that has served kids for decades is warning it may not survive. “Funding delays and uncertainty continue to persist. And let’s not forget, a leaked memo showed that Trump planned to eliminate Head Start altogether—straight out of Project 2025—until public outcry forced him to back down. “He rolled back the rule raising pay for our Head Start teachers. His HHS tried to rewrite thirty years of guidance to turn Head Start into an immigration checkpoint—that one is stalled in court, but it already drove scared families to keep their kids home. “If anyone doubts me, listen to the President’s own words. He said, ‘Don’t send any money for day care, because the United States can’t take care of day care…We’re fighting wars.’ “I taught preschool. I got into politics because politicians decided a preschool program wasn’t worth saving—one of them told me a mom in tennis shoes couldn’t make a difference. So here’s what happens now. This rule is not final. There is a public comment period. So, I want parents to weigh in. I want teachers to weigh in. Because I have seen what happens when enough ordinary people refuse to let something get ripped away from them. “And on my end: I will press administration officials when they come before Congress. I’ll sound the alarm as loudly as I possibly can, and I will carry this fight into every negotiation I walk into. And Congress just funded Head Start at an increase, on a bipartisan basis, so let me be clear: Congress funds Head Start to be a Head Start. “Trump is coming after America’s kids. That is unacceptable. This is not partisan. This is a program red and blue states rely on. “Parents, teachers, and communities across America need to speak up and speak out—together we will beat this rule and save Head Start.” ###