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Trump Administration Proposes Defunding Head Start and LIHEAP in Draft Budget

The draft fiscal 2026 budget recommends eliminating key federal programs aiding low-income families, as bipartisan lawmakers push back and service disruptions grow.

Children play at an Inspire Development Center in Washington state in 2018. Inspire Development Centers had to shutter its Head Start and Early Head Start programs this week after not receiving millions in federal funding.
A child from the Hyde Park Head Start program is silhouetted as he plays underneath a parachute during a celebration of 50 years of the Head Start program on the Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts June 9, 2015.
Kristin Gaitheron is photographed at her home on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Beech Grove Ind. Gaitheron is one of many AES Indiana customers who have had billing issues since AES "updated" its billing system. Last month, AES IN withdrew Gaither's bill from her bank account 10 times. That means the utility withdrew more than $1,000 from her account when her bill was just over $100.
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Overview

  • The Trump administration’s draft fiscal 2026 budget proposes eliminating funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Head Start, which serve millions of low-income households and children nationwide.
  • HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently laid off all LIHEAP staff and closed five regional Head Start offices, disrupting program operations and delaying funding disbursements.
  • Inspire Development Centers in Sunnyside, Washington, closed Head Start programs affecting over 400 children and 72 employees due to delayed federal funding.
  • States are still awaiting $378 million in LIHEAP funds for the current fiscal year, with no clear timeline for disbursement, jeopardizing summer cooling assistance during increasingly severe heat waves.
  • A bipartisan group of senators, including Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Jack Reed, has urged HHS to reinstate laid-off staff and release withheld funds to prevent further harm to vulnerable communities.