Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday told Congress the Trump administration would not cut funding for Head Start , after layoffs at the agency and funding freezes raised fears the six-decade-old program would be radically downsized.
In an appearance before a Senate subcommittee , Kennedy said the administration would "emphasize healthy eating in Head Start, and ensure the program continues to serve its 750,000 children and parents effectively."
The early education program, which serves children from low-income and homeless families around the country, grapples with staffing shortages and many centers operate in a perpetual state of financial precarity.
While the program has been spared from elimination, Kennedy has laid off a significant number of employees who helped the program operate and shuttered half its regional offices. Providers have experienced repeated funding delays since President Donald Trump took office, forcing some to briefly close.
In a tense exchange, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, pressed Kennedy on why the federal government delayed sending funding to a Head Start operation outside Milwaukee, forcing it to close.