WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Labor, Health, and Human Services, and Education, released the following statement after the Trump Administration’s latest attack on Head Start, the pre-K and childcare program that serves nearly 800,000 children and their families. The new effort from the Department of Health and Human Services guts basic standards that keep children safe in the classroom and jeopardizes essential childcare and early learning opportunities for the most vulnerable kids. Head Start serves nearly 800,000 Americans, including over 16,000 Wisconsin children. This announcement follows the Trump Administration’s earlier efforts to dismantle Head Start, including freezing and delaying funding that shuttered Head Start centers last year. The Trump Administration’s budget would have eliminated funding for the program all together. 

“Wisconsin families in every part of our state struggle to find quality, affordable childcare – with parents driving hours or simply quitting their jobs so their kids have somewhere safe to play, learn, and grow. Head Start is a lifeline for working families, but since Donald Trump took office, his administration has repeatedly threatened care for our children and their parents. This latest push puts kids’ wellbeing and safety on the line and is all part of the President’s plan to shut down Head Start entirely, and it’s shameful,” said Senator Baldwin. “For decades, Republicans and Democrats have come together to support Head Start because it is essential for not just our children’s development and Kindergarten readiness, but our workforce and economy. Parents and children need to come first – not the President’s political crusade to end this lifeline of a program.”   

Today, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a new proposed rule to gut quality standards and jeopardize funding for Head Start programs, including:

  • Eliminating class size and staff-to-child ratio requirements, leaving them up to individual states, some of which allow far higher ratios that Head Start currently permits.
  • Cutting the administrative spending cap from 15 percent to 5 percent of grant funding, without any increase in the program’s budget, jeopardizing Head Start centers’ ability to operate. 
  • Removing required development screenings and detailed protections for children with disabilities.
  • Dropping accommodations for homeless families and children in foster care.
  • Making parent advisory committees optional rather than required
  • Eliminating guidance on suspension and expulsion, including the current ban on corporal punishment.
  • Adding new documentation and reporting burdens, requiring programs to verify immigration status, retain eligibility records, and report staff for violations.
  • Mandating English-only instruction, except for Native American tribes.

Since the start of 2025, the Trump Administration has leveled illegal attacks on Head Start that have left Wisconsin children and their families in the cold without the care they count on. Last year, following an illegal funding freeze that cut off funding for the program, Senator Baldwin visited a Head Start facility in Waukesha, Wisconsin that was forced to close their doors. The Trump Administration and Senate Republicans also refused to release funding for at least 17 programs in 12 states caring for over 6,600 children which were closed, including in Wisconsin, during a government shutdown. In June, a report from the influential conservative Heritage Foundation called on the administration to deregulate the program and eventually eliminate it.

Senator Baldwin has continued to speak out against these attacks on Head Start and worked to secure strong funding as the lead Democrat on the subcommittee that funds Head Start. In the Fiscal Year 2026 budget that passed last year, Senator Baldwin worked with her Republican colleagues to increase the program’s budget by $85 million over the previous year.