Democrats are urging Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to stop the Trump administration’s proposed changes to Head Start, calling the reforms to the early childcare and education program illegal and “antithetical” to the mission of Head Start.

Head Start, the largest federal childcare program, aims to ensure that more than 700,000 kids receive a high-quality pre-school education for students ages 3-5 and improve welfare outcomes for children and their families. The reforms transfer federal oversight to state programs.

In a letter led by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, a bicameral coalition of lawmakers accuse the federal health department of proposing to “gut” the program by rolling back 90% of its performance standards and it asks Kennedy to withdraw the changes outlined in the agency’s recent announcement.

But the new administrative changes could diminish program quality, reduce disciplinary standards, eliminate jobs for educators and healthcare providers and weaken protections for students with disabilities and unhoused families, according to the letter that was first obtained by ABC News.

“This proposed rule is a brazen attempt to dismantle Head Start without regard for the hundreds of thousands of young children and working-class families who depend on these programs and services every year,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter to Kennedy’s office on Wednesday.

In addition to Sanders, who serves as the ranking member on the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Education Committee ranking member Bobby Scott and more than 150 other Democrats signed onto the letter. 

The lawmakers allege that the proposed changes violate the Head Start Act — the law that authorizes the eligibility and standards for the program — and illegally eliminate the program’s core components of giving vulnerable students and families a boost in life. For more than 60 years, the program has provided early childhood education, health, nutrition and family support services to low-income children and families.

Head Start has undergone major revisions under previous administrations, including the largest reduction in funded Head Start slots in program history.

Since FY16, Head Start enrollment has declined from over 1 million children to 771,121 in FY25, according to government data. The National Head Start Association supports the government’s intent to reduce unnecessary burden on Head Start programs and educators but the organization said the proposed rule exceeds its deregulatory approach.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services contended that any Head Start program that likes its current performance standards under the federal government’s previous guidance is welcome to maintain those standards.

“Head Start teachers and staff are exceptional professionals who have in many cases dedicated their lives to serving children and families,” the spokesperson wrote. “It is a shame that some elected leaders in Washington do not trust Head Start directors, teachers, and parents to make wise decisions for the children they serve but instead believe Washington must tell all 1,600 Head Start centers across the U.S. exactly how they have to run their programs.”

Early childhood advocates stress that new regulations requiring English-only instruction, caps on administrative spending, and shifts in health screenings could also harm future Head Start participants.

Wednesday’s letter comes as the 60-day open comment period for the changes ends. Kennedy’s uncle, Sargent Shriver, founded the program in 1965. The secretary has said that the reforms will remove unnecessary bureaucracy for hundreds of thousands of American families to renew the “promise of Head Start for the next generation” by allowing local Head Start centers more authority over their programs.

In their letter, the lawmakers scolded the proposal saying Kennedy “made a commitment to Congress to ‘preserve’ Head Start,” during his confirmation hearings — “yet this proposed rule is the latest attempt by the Administration to deteriorate and ultimately eliminate the program by gutting the core standards and services that have long-defined and ensured its success.”

Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s goal to make the largest revision to federal childcare policy in decades aligns with current administration priorities. If implemented, the new regulations would empower parents, implement the new federal dietary guidelines and physical activity standards, shift early childhood governing authority to the states, and eliminate duplicative layers of compliance, according to the health department. The department also awarded over $200 million to Head Start for nutrition, facilities, and other services last month.

For now, as federal funding remains intact and programs are still operating, Head Start proponents told ABC News that fewer federal regulations should not mean fewer results for its families.

Bernadine Futrell, who served as the Biden administration’s Head Start director, told ABC News that the program is life saving and provides critical services.

“It’s more than early learning,” Futrell told ABC News, adding “It is an early childhood program. It’s focusing on brain development, health and nutrition, healthy habits, financial literacy, economic mobility for parents, and it’s a two-generational approach – where it’s not just a child being served; it’s the entire family that is moving to another level.”

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In their first debate in the closely watched race for Senate in Maine, incumbent Sen. Susan Collins drew on her seniority in Congress and her role as chair of the powerful appropriations committee to counter Democrat Troy Jackson, who portrayed her as ineffective in pushing back against President Donald Trump’s agenda.

“As chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I’ve been able to bring home federal dollars to help ease the burden on our taxpayers. In the past five years, I’ve secured $1.5 billion for 672 projects … these are investments in our communities,” Collins said during the debate Tuesday.

As Trump’s trade war with Canada continues, Collins referenced her behind-the-scenes work to minimize the pain for Maine, whose economy is intertwined with Canada, including getting certain products removed from the tariff list.

“I have been the most outspoken opponent of the tariffs with Canada. Canada is not China. It is our neighbor, our friend, our closest ally, and our biggest trading partner. So, I have been strongly voting against the tariffs with Canada, but I’ve also been working behind the scenes,” Collins said. “I was successful in getting concrete, pulp and road salt removed from the tariff list,” Collins said.

Jackson, though, said what Collins has done is not enough, arguing Trump’s policies are driving up the cost of goods and living and that “she won’t talk back against Donald Trump,”

“I didn’t mock the fact that she got road salt back. I mocked the fact that what about everything else? We can’t eat road salt,” Jackson said.

Jackson referenced Collins voting for Trump’s signature legislation, the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” out of committee, saying it’s “crucifying Maine.”

Collins voted against the final passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill because of the cuts to the Medicaid program, but said she voted to send it out of committee because of the billions of dollars to fund rural health care.

Jackson doubled down, though, on the fact that Collins voted the bill out of committee.

“Senator Collins is like an arsonist who helped set the fire, and then she wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put it out. I mean, she advanced the bill out of committee. You just heard her say it … If she’d have stopped it, she wouldn’t be able to do the other things, meaning that she could have stopped it.”

On the Iran war, Collins mentioned her past votes to end the war in Iran and how the war has led to a rise in gas and diesel prices.

“I think that it is not well thought out. It has caused adverse circumstances in terms of the cost of global oil,” Collins said.

As Trump has mentioned possibly campaigning in Maine ahead of the November election, Collins was asked whether she would campaign with him, and she said she believes he won’t come to the state.

“I don’t think that President Trump is going to come to Maine,” she replied. “He’s talking about going to a lot of different states. I’ve heard nothing from his office, and I’m not exactly his favorite senator.”

Jackson attacked Collins heavily over her vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, even referencing her vote in his opening remarks during tonight’s debate, which falls on the anniversary of her vote for the justice.

“[Brett Kavanaugh] helped overturn Roe v. Wade, and today she says she has no regrets,” Jackson said. “And I would, you know, wonder for everyone, including myself, would you trust her to pick the next Supreme Court of Justice?”

During the portion of the debate where the candidates could ask each other questions, Jackson asked Collins if she would admit she was wrong to vote to confirm Kavanaugh.

Collins said she does not agree with Kavanaugh’s vote to overturn Roe v. Wade and referenced her support of Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson. When the moderator asked whether she felt Kavanaugh lied to her, Collins said Kavanaugh should not have asserted that Roe v. Wade was settled law.

“I do not feel that he lied, but I think that he should not have said it was settled law because, to me, that meant that it would not be overturned. But to be fair, you cannot ask a nominee how he might vote on some hypothetical future case.”

Collins, who has been a long supporter of abortion rights, called out Jackson for previously being against abortion access early on in his political career.

“So, I would point out that there’s only one of us on this stage who has always been pro-choice, and that’s me,” Collins said.

On immigration, Jackson referenced the fatal ICE shooting in Biddeford, Maine, earlier this year and called for ICE to be disbanded and for funding to be redirected to Customs and Border Protection.

Collins pushed back on abolishing ICE, but said the agency needs “serious reform.”

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As the midterms present a referendum on his second term, President Donald Trump continues to boast about his handling of the economy despite low approval ratings saying Americans aren’t feeling it.

But while Trump has tried to paint a rosy picture of the economy, Vice President JD Vance has been driving home a different message on the campaign trail — appearing more sympathetic to the economic squeeze frustrated voters are facing. Vance has also said the administration has made progress on that front, but urged voters to give them more time.

At several campaign rallies, Vance has urged patience, telling voters that “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

According to a late September AP-NORC poll, 82% of adults disapprove of Trump’s handling of the cost of living and only 17% approve.

Despite polls consistently showing that many Americans are not pleased with the effect of Trump’s economic policies, the president continues to praise his record.

On his way to a campaign event in Texas last week, Trump told reporters he gave himself an “A+” across the board and discounted the economic pain from the war with Iran as a tradeoff with preventing that country from building a nuclear weapon.

And Trump said he’s had to campaign on his economic agenda and its results because other Republicans are not “selling” it enough.

Vance has taken a different tone than his boss, expressing sympathy for Americans’ economic frustrations while touting the Trump administration’s wins and progress, often encouraging voters to support Republicans in November so the work can continue.

“Everything was not going to be fixed in 18 months. But you can’t ignore people’s concerns,” Vance said during an interview with Real America’s Voice last week.

Asked for his message to voters last month at the All-In Summit, a gathering of business, tech and investment leaders, Vance urged them to give Republicans “another chance.” ​

“There’s a lot of good that’s been done, but there’s a lot of work left to do. Don’t give power to the people who cause the problems that we’re fixing. Give us another chance — or give us another couple of years to continue to work on the amazing things that we’ve been doing for the past two years,” Vance said then.

Trump has previously said that it was his own party doing an “extremely poor job” of selling his agenda and that’s why he’s touting his record.

“There are by a lot more Americans working today than at any time in the history of our country … .but nobody knows it. That’s why I’m doing it myself,” Trump said in late September. “I’m going out because nobody’s selling it. I’m doing, we’re doing an extremely poor job of promotion and an extremely great job of running the country. So, I think you’re probably better off with that. But we’ll get the word out. It should not be hard.”

But even though Trump has been touting job growth, the September jobs report showed only 29,000 jobs added, far below expectations. The report also reflected that wages are not keeping up with inflation.

When asked about the difference in economic messaging between Trump and Vance, the White House said that the two men are sharing the same message.

“President Trump and Vice President Vance are sharing the same message with the American people: if Republicans hold Congress and keep delivering on President Trump’s agenda, American families will have more money in their pockets, secure borders, and safer streets.”

Vance is viewed as a top Republican candidate for the White House in 2028. Asked by NBC News last week if Republicans not performing well in midterms would factor into his decision on whether to run for president, Vance said he would consider it.

“You make these decisions by collecting as much information and trying to make a wise decision. And, yeah, I mean, regardless of what happens over the next 35 days, there will be new information, new things you have to make a decision over.”

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President Donald Trump continued on Monday to sow unfounded doubt about mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections, despite encouraging Republicans to vote any way they can. 

Trump’s remarks came amid a meeting at the White House with the 2020 election denier Tina Peters on Monday, sources confirmed to ABC News. Peters, the former county clerk of Mesa County, Colorado, was convicted on state charges in a scheme to breach the state’s voting systems as she hunted for evidence of election fraud in 2020.

The state’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, earlier this year granted Peters clemency following repeated calls from the president urging the state to let her go. Peters was released from prison in June.  

During a gaggle on the White House South Lawn en route to Nebraska on Monday, where he attended a political rally, Trump pushed back when asked why he was telling Republicans to vote by mail despite his repeated assertions that it is fraudulent. 

“No, vote by mail or vote in person. I’d rather have a vote in person. But they can vote by mail if they want, because we seem to have no choice,” Trump said, going on to claim, without providing evidence, that mail-in voting is rife with cheating.

“What we’re concerned about is there seems to be a lot of- not seems to be, there is a lot of cheating in vote by mail,” Trump said, adding a directive to reporters that they need to examine elections in California.

“Trump is lying about California again,” Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office said back in June after Trump made baseless accusations of fraud in the state’s primary election.

Trump has encouraged voters to cast their ballots by mail ahead of the critical midterm cycle, which will determine control of Congress and, ultimately, the direction of his final two years as president. 

“Vote early, vote by mail or vote in person on Election Day, November 3rd, so we can defeat the radical left Dumocrats in a midterm victory that is too big to rig,” Trump said in a video posted to his social media on October 3. 

Trump has voted by mail twice in Florida elections this year, including in the state’s recent primary election. He’s also voted early in elections while he was in office, including during the Florida Republican primary in 2024.

His administration this year has been involved in legal challenges to mail-in ballot rules, including the filing last month of an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to immediately implement new U.S. Postal Service mail ballot rules for November. The Supreme Court rejected that appeal, clearing the way for states to continue sending out mail-in ballots as planned ahead of the midterms.

Trump seized on Monday upon an incident in Maricopa County, Arizona, where officials said Sunday that a contractor accidentally mailed 3,126 early ballots six days before they were supposed to be sent out.

In a statement, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office said no voters were adversely affected and “upon consultation with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, it was determined that the ballots remain valid and do not need to be voided or reissued.”

Still, the president, who was responding to a reporter’s question, said that the country should “be ashamed of themselves.”

“So Maricopa just sent out thousands of ballots in error. Maricopa County in Arizona. And they have to be ashamed of themselves,” Trump said.

“By the way, there were no errors. You know that, right?” he said. 

He added: “Maricopa is a very, very dishonest county.”

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