Senator Murray: “Let’s face it, billionaires like Elon Musk and Trump already had a “head start” in life, so of course they don’t care if anyone else needs a little help. But this is make or break for everyone else—and I mean everyone, not just for families, not just for parents, but for businesses as well, and for our economy which is powered by our working families.”
ICYMI: Head Start funding lags by nearly $1 billion this year, causing some preschool closures
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chairof the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined a press conference hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on their announcement of a lawsuit against the Trump administration for seeking to dismantle the Head Start program. Senator Murray spoke about how critical Head Start is in helping kids and families across the country thrive.
Head Start currently serves over 750,000 kids nationwide, and the program has served nearly 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.
Since taking office, President Trump has gutted the offices that keep Head Start centers and child care programs across the country running. In late February, the Trump administration fired scores of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care. Earlier this month, Trump continued to hollow out HHS, including by shuttering half of the regional offices at the Office of Head Start, which are responsible for ensuring high-quality Head Start services are available to families nationwide. The Trump administration has failed to articulate how it will ensure that uninterrupted services are available to families and that appropriate oversight will be carried out despite gutting the very offices charged with these responsibilities.
As data compiled by Senator Murray’s office shows, the Trump administration has failed to get out nearly $1 billion in funding for Head Start programs this year, part of a larger, sweeping funding freeze Trump has ordered since taking office.
Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered, are below:
“Well thank you all for being on this call, I really, really do appreciate it. And I just want to say that when I first got into politics to fight for child care and early education programs, I met with a few politicians who really did not get it—and a lot of parents who absolutely did. Well, we made our voices heard, we made a difference in that fight, and now, we have to keep it up!
“I still, constantly, hear from parents about child care and pre-K, and I take their stories back with me here to the Capitol to fight for change. We have made a lot of progress over the years making the case for child care, making historic investments in our families, and changing the conversation.
“But then, a couple of billionaires with no idea about what they are doing came along and decided to take an axe to Head Start. I mean talk about clueless. Talk about careless! Instead of giving our kids a Head Start Trump and Musk want to give billionaires another tax break and give families the cold shoulder.
“We already got a hint of how bad this could get for Washington state—when funding delays forced a Head Start program to the point of closure. 450 kids temporarily lost access to early education programs and support they counted on. And more than 70 employees were out of a job. To say nothing of the hundreds of parents who were about to be forced out of work because they lost pre-K.
“That chaos was from just one provider facing funding delays, if Trump and Musk get their way, if they zero out Head Start completely—the damage would be magnitudes greater.
“Let’s face it, billionaires like Elon Musk and Trump already had a “head start” in life, so of course they don’t care if anyone else needs a little help.
“But this is make or break for everyone else—and I mean everyone, not just for families, not just for parents, but for businesses as well, and for our economy which is powered by our working families.
“Trump and Musk may want to axe Head Start and they have already made clear they will do everything they can to break the program and cause chaos, but they are going to have to go through me—and they are going to have to go through all of you.
“I am going to keep doing what I have done since the very start, getting loud about why programs like Head Start matter for families, talking to other parents, lifting up their voices, and fighting, with all the power I have, for our kids.
“And I’m so glad to be fighting along such amazing advocates and organizations like the ACLU, and the Washington State Association of Head Start and E-CEAP—you don’t just serve our families, you are standing up for them, and we are all really thankful for that.
“So it’s great to be with you on this call—and let’s keep fighting, we’ve got to, thank you.”
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