WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has reversed course on a proposal to cut all funding for Head Start, a preschool and child-care program relied on by hundreds of thousands of low-income families.
A spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget, who insisted on remaining unnamed, confirmed to USA TODAY on May 5 that the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget does not include changes to Head Start funding.
A budgetary framework released May 2 did not mention Head Start or cuts to its funding. The document did, however, include cuts to other federal programs that support preschools directly and indirectly.
The administration’s shift seemed to allay the fears of at least some of the nation’s more than 1,600 Head Start providers and grant recipients, who spent a month in limbo after USA TODAY first reported on April 11 that the White House was considering asking Congress to eliminate Head Start funding altogether from the Department of Health and Human Services’ budget. Other news outlets – including the Associated Press, The Washington Post and The New York Times – later confirmed USA TODAY’s reporting.
On April 28, a group of state Head Start associations and regional providers sued the Trump administration in federal court over the reportedly planned cuts. The plaintiffs argued the White House was dismantling a “crucial program in defiance of Congress.”
In a statement May 2, Yasmina Vinci, the executive director for the National Head Start Association, said she was grateful Head Start was not “explicitly eliminated” in Trump’s budget proposal.
But the White House’s broader efforts to slash more than $160 billion from the federal budget could still have implications for Head Start families, she warned.
“The proposed deep cuts to non-defense discretionary programs – many of which Head Start families depend on – pose a serious threat to the strength and stability of these essential services,” she said. “We will continue our efforts until there is clear assurance that Head Start and its related services are fully protected.”
Other preschool programs still at risk
Though Head Start appears to be spared from Trump’s crusade against government spending, other preschool and after-school programs may be in jeopardy as the Republican-controlled Congress wrestles over the federal budget this summer.
On the chopping block in the White House’s funding proposal – which doesn’t have the force of law, but will influence congressional Republicans – is a $75 million grant system that gives money to colleges to support child-care services. Supporters have lauded the “Child Care Access Means Parents in School” program for helping low-income parents succeed in college.
The White House’s budget request, on the other hand, says subsidizing child care for adults in college is “unaffordable and duplicative.”
In addition, the proposal would abolish preschool development grants, which set aside money for states to improve early childhood education. The White House has called the grants “unproductive funds” which officials claim have been used to “push DEI policies on to toddlers,” referring to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Both Republican and Democratic governors have publicly celebrated when their states were awarded the grants in recent years.
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Proposal to axe Head Start excluded from Trump’s budget
