An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States met its conditions.
“It is up to the U.S. side to stop and make amends for its illegal and destructive actions,” Esmail Baghaei said Monday, noting the American blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran wants the U.S. to lift the blockade, pay compensation for months of war damage, lift economic sanctions and release Iran’s frozen assets. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway that normally carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil supplies — has become the war’s most lasting consequence. The impasse has kept energy prices as a major focus of U.S. politics ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The Chump economy continues to crash and burn as the war drags on. Sean Williams (THE MOTLEY FOOL) notes:
Shortly after President Trump green-lit military operations against Iran, the latter shut down the Strait of Hormuz to most commercial vessels. This action effectively halted the flow of approximately 20 million barrels of petroleum liquids, representing a fifth of global demand. It's the largest energy supply disruption in modern history.
Removing a fifth of the world's crude oil supply in the blink of an eye had a notable impact on energy markets. Within a matter of weeks, crude oil prices surged more than 70%, with fuel prices following suit. Gas prices rose at the fastest pace in more than three decades.
For consumers driving gas- and diesel-powered vehicles, the impact of the Iran war on their pocketbooks was impossible to miss. Between February and May, trailing 12-month (TTM) inflation surged from 2.4% to a three-year high of 4.2% -- more than double the Federal Reserve's long-term inflation target of 2%.
[. . .]
While President Trump has insisted that inflation will plunge once the Iran war ends, evidence is mounting that the inflationary effects of this conflict are spilling over into the broader economy. If accurate, this may prove devastating to Wall Street's historic bull market rally.
Oil prices increased over the weekend. Veronica Majerol (NEW YORK TIMES) reports:
Oil prices rose and stocks were down slightly on Sunday as hopes were dashed for a breakthrough in the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz.
At the end of last week, Iran and Oman indicated that they were near an agreement that would allow oil and other important commercial traffic to resume. But on Saturday, Iran issued a long list of demands that it said would have to be met before ships could move again through the strait, and it was clear that Iran wanted to continue to use the strait as leverage.
Chump continues the Iran War. It was supposed to be over in days, then it weeks. We're now 18 days away from six months and there's still no end in sight. Chump s back in low energy mode where he plans to do little to nothing to end the war. Tim Lister and Aida Karimi (CNN) report:
The list of demands from Iran can’t have surprised the White House.
Hardliners have been repeating the mantra on a daily basis: the limited agreement in the works with Oman on the Strait of Hormuz is not the same as reopening the vital waterway in the way Washington wants.
For that, they say, “America must correct its behavior.”
Tehran has now spelled out what means, laying out a series of conditions that appear to go beyond the memorandum of understanding which was agreed in June but later suspended amid US strikes on Iran, Iranian retaliation across the Middle East and a resurgence of attacks on shipping.
Early Saturday morning, the Senate voted in a 50 to 49 vote to confirm Todd Blanche as Attorney General. Last week, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse took to the floor of the Senate to note the many problems with Blanche's nomination.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: Then he [Todd Blanche] goes running down to Tallahassee to interview Epstein' comrade in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell. Did he use that interview to develop any new information? To go after people who were culpable in the Epstein files? No. He used that interview to extract the exculpatory comments from her about Donald Trump. 'Oh, he was a perfect gentleman.' And the next thing you know, she's rewarded with a transfer to a Club Fed type prison. What's the excuse for that? 'Oh, she was at risk. We felt she was in danger.' Well look, I've been around law enforcement for a long time. This is the first time I've seen a prisoner allegedly in danger be transferred to a less secure setting to solve the problem of danger. Right? You move the prisoner to a more secure setting, not to a les secure setting. It makes no sense. [. . .] Remember that there was a witness who spoke to FBI agents about having been assaulted by Donald Trump when she was about 14 years old -- physically assaulted and sexually assaulted. She spoke to the FBI at least four times and those four time were recorded in FBI 302s -- a 302 is the FBI's name for the witness statement that the agents write up after an interview. So four times, this woman has been interviewed about what happened to her as a girl. Three of those 302s specifically mention Donald Trump. In the disclosure that Todd Blanche made under The Epstein Files law the only one of the four that got disclosed was the one that didn't mention Donald Trump. That ought to be disqualifying right there. Luckily, the very sharp investigators realized through like gaps in date-stamp numbers that documents were missing and that the three 302s have not been disclosed and so Blanche was forced to cough those up. But behind the 302 come the agent notes. And there's still 37 pages of documents related to that that are still suppressed, that are still covered up.
Despite those issues and many more, Senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn tossed aside their concerns and hopped on the bandwagon. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins voted "no" along with all 47 who caucus on the Democratic Party side. So it was 49 against. And 49 for.
But the laughable Bill Cassidy caved and voted for Blanche and started to cry on the Senate floor when explaining why he was voting for Blanche. Sunday on CBS' FACE THE NATION, Cassidy attempted to minimize and pretty up a 68-year old crying in public as he voted:
MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning, and welcome to 'Face the Nation.' Both the House and the Senate are now gone for the summer, but we begin with one lawmaker who hasn't taken off quite yet for his home state, Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy. Good morning, and thank you for delaying your departure to be here in person. It's good to talk to you.
SENATOR BILL CASSIDY: Good to be with you. Good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you were skeptical, you made that clear back when we spoke in June of Todd Blanche and confirming him to be Attorney General. You did late Friday confirm him, but you said you're not entirely satisfied. You no doubt will have concern in the future, and I want to play for our viewers what you said. Take a listen.
[START SOUND ON TAPE]
SEN. CASSIDY: I'll be criticized for this vote. What's new? But the people of Louisiana can be assured that I worked hard to understand the issue and to make the right decision.
[END SOUND ON TAPE]
MARGARET BRENNAN: You were emotional there. Your voice cracked. Why? And why do you think you're going to be criticized?
SEN. CASSIDY: Oh, you're going to be criticized. My voice cracked because my wife thinks it's endearing. I think it's embarrassing. But sometimes you're aware of the incredible privilege of representing your state and your nation. Incredible privilege, and as a- as a little boy, I would read history books, and I- and I'd read about these great decisions on the Senate floor, and the fact that I have the ability to participate, and after an intense 48 hours of coming up with a decision that wasn't black or white. You can argue one way or the other, and you can come up with just this side or just that side of approval. Now, the fact that I, Bill Cassidy, was able to do that, I am so privileged. And whenever I just for a second am hit by the gravity of that and the honor of that, I get emotional. And- and and that's just again, my wife finds it endearing. I find it embarrassing.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, it does have a great gravity to a decision like this, and you weighed it very carefully when we spoke back in June. You you were specific in some of your concerns, and I know acting Attorney General Blanche now, who's set for that confirmation had posted documents, including he rescinded the order to create the anti-weaponization fund, and he had an unsigned statement in which he narrowed the terms of the Trump-IRS protections that you had objected to. Now they'll apply just to Trump, Don Jr., Eric and the Trump Organization. Senator Durbin, who's the top Democrat on Judiciary, said these new clarifications-they're unenforceable. Is he correct?
SEN. CASSIDY: So, a couple things. Again, one more time, if you're looking for a black or white decision here, you're not going to find it. This is a gradation of gray. But what I'm told as regards to the anti-weaponization fund, if you put it in the context of the political environment, the judicial environment, the process you would have to go back through in order to reinstate that effectively is dead. Now, John Cornyn, a former state attorney general in Texas, was comfortable with it. I'm not an attorney. MARGARET BRENNAN: It took him a while to get there, though--
SEN. CASSIDY: --Took him a while to get there-
MARGARET BRENNAN: --Basically said we can't take his word for it.
SEN. CASSIDY: It took him a while to get there, but the fact that John did was important to me to a certain extent. I'm relying on others that are bringing me information, and I have to trust them on that. Not everything, but some of that, and I trust John on that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And on giving his family protection from IRS probes?
SEN. CASSIDY: That's totally wrong. Totally wrong. And so I will go back. This is not a black or white decision. That is wrong, and no American should be targeted by the law, but no American should be above the law, and that, frankly, almost weighed to vote no.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And you're just hoping it- you had to accept it in the end, I mean--
SEN. CASSIDY: So, let's look at the positive. There's three aspects to the attorney general. The attorney general is supposed to give advice to the president, supposed to run the Department of Justice and is supposed to make sure that the U.S. attorneys nationwide are doing their job. It really weighs strongly in his favor when I speak to my U.S. attorneys in Louisiana, and I spoke specifically to David Courcelle and Kurt Wall, and they said, listen, we have calls once weekly between our office and DOJ, and they give metrics for our prosecutors, and each individual prosecutor is weighed on that metric, and we've had our focus restricted down to fighting violent crime, human and drug trafficking, and going after fraud in programs like Medicare and Medicaid. And if I need extra resources to bring a case home, we do it. And if there's a drug kingpin, we get the resources to go after them, and- and our morale is up, not despite the accountability, because of the accountability. Now, if you want a DOJ which is actually doing its job, you need stable leadership, and you need leadership which is effective, and in that which is making the greatest difference in my life, in your life, in the American people's life. There's a lot of positive things to say about Todd Blanche.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And you are confident that he will uphold the constitution with the upcoming elections? There are Democrats saying he may not.
SEN. CASSIDY: Well, of course, there's always this existential anxiety.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SEN. CASSIDY: But I am as confident as you can be about the future you are. I cannot predict the future, and this is not a black or white decision. But I'm confident on that.
Let's look at the positive? Existential anxiety? Look, there's your answer, you don't vote for someone when you're filled with existential anxiety. He's yacking away trying to justify that which cannot be justified. Yes, there are times when you take a chance and give someone the benefit of the doubt. That's when they're an unknown. But when they've tried to pay January 6ers, when they've come up with a pass for Chump and his family with regards to paying national taxes, when they have refused to comply with Congress' Epstein Files law? They are not an unknown.
They are a known. You know that they will not follow the law and that they will not represent the American people but instead as though they are Chump's personal attorney. You know they will degrade the Constitution. You know that they will continue to degrade the legal system by lying to the courts.
He is a known and you have to be an idiot -- and a coward -- to vote for him and then offer the slop Cassidy did to try to justify it. There is no justification for it. None at all.
Senator Adam Schiff's office issued the following regarding the vote on Blanche:
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) issued the following statement after voting against the nomination of Todd Blanche to be U.S. Attorney General:
“As I said his confirmation hearing, the fundamental problem with Todd Blanche isn’t that he’s inexperienced or unintelligent. It’s that he’s never been able to shed his role as criminal defense lawyer for Donald Trump. He cannot and will never do it.
“I voted to oppose his nomination. And he should have been rejected for numerous reasons:
“He has used the Department of Justice to enrich the President of the United States – leveraging the power of the DOJ and IRS to make the president, his family, and his businesses more money and to provide immunity for their actions – that is not the job of an Attorney General.
“Under Blanche, the Justice Department has become an instrument of revenge and reward. We should not confirm an Attorney General who believes the president has a right and a duty to go after his enemies and bring sea shells cases against them.
“His efforts to protect the president and others in the Epstein Files were a scandalous abuse of power in which he covered up and withheld documents to protect Donald Trump and further injured the victims by publishing their names and photos.
“Blanche has sought to compensate cop beaters who attacked the Capitol in support of the president. Even if the anti-weaponization fund doesn’t move forward, Blanche’s Justice Department has been using other funds of the department to pay off criminals and cronies of the president.
“He has also violated his code of ethics, firing career officials involved in cases against Donald Trump – the same cases in which he served as the president’s personal criminal defense attorney.
“A nominee with such a record should never be made Attorney General, not if we ever hope to preserve what is left of the rule of law. Todd Blanche will never do what’s best for the American people. Only what’s best for Donald Trump.”
###
And Senator Alex Padilla's office issued this statement:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement following the Senate’s confirmation vote on the nomination of Todd Blanche to be the next U.S. Attorney General:
“Todd Blanche is unfit to serve as Attorney General. As Acting Attorney General, Blanche has shown he is more loyal to Trump than he is to the American people or the Constitution.
“He is the architect of the $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund for convicted January 6 insurrectionists who stormed our Capitol and assaulted law enforcement officers. He has repeatedly refused to provide transparency around the Epstein files while shielding Donald Trump — who appears in the files thousands of times — and his predatory allies. Blanche has also made clear that, if confirmed, he will roll back abortion access across the nation.
“When forced to choose between the Constitution and Donald Trump, Todd Blanche chooses Donald Trump, including by helping secure immunity for him and his family’s potential tax crimes. America deserves better.
“I strongly oppose Todd Blanche to be our next Attorney General. His confirmation will be a setback for the independence of the Department of Justice, but I will continue to stand up for everyone’s Constitutional rights, demand accountability from the Trump Administration, and fight to uphold the rule of law.”
Padilla has consistently fought to hold Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) accountable. This week, Padilla slammed Todd Blanche during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote on Blanche’s nomination, making clear that Blanche is unfit to be U.S. Attorney General. Last month, Padilla questioned Blanche during a Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing, demanding answers about the anti-weaponization fund and allegiance to Trump.
###
On the topic of Ghislaine Maxwell, let's note this from US House Rep Raja Kirshnamoorthi's office:
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, joined House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-CA) in sending a letter on Thursday urging Speaker Mike Johnson to immediately bring to the House floor a resolution opposing any presidential pardon, commutation, or other form of executive clemency for convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. The lawmakers note that the Senate unanimously adopted such a resolution last week and argue that the House should do the same without delay.
In the letter, the lawmakers write:
“The Senate has unanimously passed a resolution opposing a pardon or clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell. The House must, without delay, do the same. There are now multiple resolutions that have been introduced holding that Ghislaine Maxwell—a convicted child sex trafficker and essential partner in lurid crime with Jeffrey Epstein—should not receive a pardon, commutation, or any other form of clemency from the President of the United States. You have not yet provided for any legislative forum or consideration of these resolutions. It is time for action.”
The letter argues that granting executive clemency to Maxwell would undermine confidence in the rule of law and inflict further harm on the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's trafficking network. It also notes that Speaker Johnson has previously stated Maxwell deserved a life sentence because of her "unspeakable crimes" and urges him to act consistently with those public statements.
The lawmakers continue:
“We urge you to call such a vote without delay and without asking the permission of President Trump, Attorney General Todd Blanche or anyone else reporting to the White House. This is a matter for the House of Representatives to consider. We urge you to put your own words into action and bring a resolution opposing any form of clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell to the House floor without delay so that the House may reaffirm that child sexual abuse and human trafficking are abominable crimes that should be met with justice, not a pardon.”
The lawmakers' letter is available here.
As the press release notes, the Senate passed a resolution on this issue last week. Australia's ABC notes:
The US Senate has unanimously struck down the pardon chances of Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
On Thursday, the resolution opposing any future pardon of Maxwell was ushered in by both Republicans and Democrats, drawing yet another symbolic divide between Donald Trump, his party and the president's own Epstein ties.
[. . .]
The resolution was introduced by Nevada Democrat senator Jacky Rosen, who first brought it forward in February.
By voting it in, the Senate agreed "Ghislaine Maxwell should not be granted a Presidential pardon or any form of clemency" for her sexual abuse and co-offending with Epstein.
The politicians agreed that a pardon or clemency would be "inconsistent with the interests of justice and accountability for crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children".
The resolution also denounced any attempt by Mr Trump to usher in "any other form of executive clemency" to Maxwell.
Donald Chump and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein became friends decades ago. They were friends in the 80s, the 90s, the 00s and some say the 10s. Despite their very close relationship, over the last two decades there have been efforts to rewrite history. With that in mind, Alexander Willis (RAW STORY) reports:
After spending hours at the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) has revealed the contents of a heavily redacted email from the agency’s Jeffrey Epstein-related files, and claimed it exposes clear "lies" by President Donald Trump.
The email in question was sent in October 2009 by Epstein to “Gmax,” a name associated with Ghislaine Maxwell, who’s currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. The subject line of the email reads: “Trump,” and the majority of the email’s text is hidden behind a large black box.
However, the Justice Department (DOJ) has allowed
lawmakers to view unredacted files at the DOJ headquarters, and Dean,
pen and paper in hand, took the agency up on the offer in an effort to
view what was within the Trump-related email.
Dean shared what she had learned with journalist Tara Palmeri, telling her that the email “reveals lies of the president,” particularly regarding his oft-repeated claim to have thrown Epstein “out” of his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
“Jeffrey Epstein was never expelled from Mar-a-Lago,” Dean told Palmeri, reading from her notes she had taken while reviewing the unredacted email. “No, he was not a member. May have been a guest. He was never asked to leave. [Trump said] ‘I’ve been on a lot of planes, may have been on his plane. No young girls on plane.’”
Why was the e-mail redacted? This was not what was allowed by Congress. This was about protecting Chump and Chump's lies.
ICYMI: Senator Murray Slam’s Trump’s Latest Attack on Head Start, Calls on Teachers and Parents to Protect the Program
*** WATCH PRESS CONFERENCE HERE, DOWNLOAD HERE***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), held a virtual press conference with Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and advocates in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued today by the Department of Health and Human Services that guts Head Start by shredding basic standards that keep kids safe and advance their education. The rule removes most of Head Start’s 133 pages of requirements for math and literacy curriculums, class sizes, medical screenings, home visits and more.
Joining the press call were Joel Ryan, Executive Director of the Washington State Association of Head Start; Dr. Ruth Friedman, former Director of the Office of Child Care at the Administration for Children and Families at HHS; and Lori Pittman, a parent from Washington state a Policy, Advocacy, and Government Relations Advisor for Early Learning K-12, and Postsecondary at Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD), and a co-founder of the Washington State Parent Ambassador Program, a statewide initiative supporting parent leadership and advocacy.
“Your child’s safety should not depend on their zip code. That has been the entire point of Head Start since 1965. If they wanted to serve more kids, they could ask Congress for more funding. I’d write that bill this afternoon. Instead, they’re saying they might be able to serve more children by promising each child less. Nobody should pretend this came out of nowhere. President Trump has all but declared war on Head Start,” said Senator Murray. “This rule is not final. There is a public comment period. I want parents to weigh in. I want teachers to weigh in. Because I have seen what happens when enough ordinary people refuse to let something get ripped away from them. And on my end: I will press administration officials when they come before Congress. I will sound the alarm as loudly as I possibly can. I will carry this fight into every negotiation I walk into. And Congress just funded Head Start at an increase, on a bipartisan basis, so let me be clear: Congress funds Head Start to be Head Start. Trump is coming after America’s kids. That is so unacceptable. This isn’t partisan. This is a program red and blue states rely on. Parents, teachers, and communities across America need to speak up and speak out—together we will beat this rule and save Head Start.”
“I know the value of Head Start, it got me to the U.S. Senate,” said Senator Luján, one of only two U.S. Senators who attended Head Start. “Since President Trump took office, he and his administration have made it harder and harder for young children to get an early education. Now, he is moving forward with a proposed rule to gut Head Start and strip basic education, health, and safety standards our kids rely on. That is why I joined Senator Murray and advocates today and will continue to fight to protect Head Start.”
Head Start currently serves over 750,000 kids nationwide, and the program has served more than 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.
Throughout his second term, President Trump has gutted the offices that keep Head Start centers and child care programs across the country running. Since taking office, the Trump administration has fired 40 to 50% of the staff at the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care. In April of 2025, Trump continued to hollow out HHS, by shuttering five of the 10 regional offices for both Office of Child Care and Office of Head Start, which served 22 states and five territories. President Trump also illegally impounded funding provided by Congress for Head Start programs across America, in violation of the Impoundment Control Act (ICA). In response, Senator Murray raised alarm bells and she led her colleagues in demanding that the funds get moving.
Notably, a leaked memo indicated that the Trump administration—in keeping with Project 2025—would push to completely eliminate Head Start as a part of its FY26 budget request. Ultimately, strong public outcry and backlash prevented the Trump administration from including the elimination of Head Start in its budget request.
In April, President Trump said “Don’t send any money for day care, because the United States can’t take care of day care… We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of day care… It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things.”
Last year, HHS took steps to attack immigrant children and their families by issuing a notice reinterpreting longstanding guidance under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) to reinterpret Head Start as a federal public benefit subject to immigration restrictions. The guidance, currently tied up in litigation and stalled from being enforced, threw programs and families into chaos, sparking confusion and driving many families to keep their kids at home out of fear of discrimination or immigration enforcement.
HHS has also proposed changes to the Head Start Program that would roll back regulations targeted at increasing salaries for the Head Start workforce—one of the top barriers to recruitment and retention leading to fewer children being served.
In the face of Trump’s calls to cut investments in state early childhood education programs and repeated attacks on the program, Democrats have consistently defended resources for child care and early childhood education. In March of this year, Senator Murray led her colleagues and established a new working group as the latest major push in Democrats’ fight to lower costs and deliver child care for every American family. The Child Care for America working group will bring Democratic members of Congress together to coordinate broad support for landmark child care legislation.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
“You know, this morning, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed shredding the rule book that has protected kids in Head Start for sixty years—133 pages of standards, gutted. And I want to be really concrete about what is in those pages that they are throwing away.
“It’s duration requirements—meaning, is the program actually open while parents are working? It’s professional development requirements to make sure that our teachers are equipped to keep our kids safe—that’s everything from instruction on our kids social-emotional development, and training to recognize and report child abuse. It is watering down quality standards for families that want home-based and family-care—like safety requirements: are there play areas? Is there space for food prep? Are the bathrooms up to standard?
“It’s class sizes—because there’s a reason Head Start tells providers how many toddlers one adult can supervise. It’s how many kids any one teacher can actually keep safe on a busy day. It’s the medical screenings—for countless families, Head Start is the first place anyone will ever check their child’s hearing, or vision, or teeth. Ignoring these kids’ health today, costs us more tomorrow. It’s eliminating protections that keep a kid with a disability safe from harmful practices like restraint, or seclusion and expulsion—that’s just not something any of us should accept.
“And there is one more piece that really doesn’t make sense: this rule forces English-only instruction. There are American children who have different language needs. Denying children instruction in their first language—that’s backwards, and it doesn’t help anyone. Now, the administration has given this rule a very nice name: Reducing Federal Burden.
“So, let’s look at what they actually list as burdens: background
checks for the adults who are alone in a room with your four-year-old;
safety standards for the buses that drive your toddler to school; vision
and hearing screenings for your kids. That is not red tape. That’s all
important stuff to keep our kids safe and healthy! They want to hand all
of it to the states—and if you live in a state that never writes those
rules, too bad.
“Your child’s safety should not depend on
their zip code. That has been the entire point of Head Start since
1965. If they wanted to serve more kids, they could ask Congress for
more funding. I would write that bill this afternoon. Instead, they’re
saying they might be able to serve more children by promising each child
less.
“Nobody should pretend this came out of nowhere. President Trump has all but declared war on Head Start. He illegally impounded Head Start funding that Congress passed into law—in violation of the Impoundment Control Act—and centers couldn’t make payroll until we raised the alarm and forced the money out the door.
“He fired 40 to 50 percent of the staff at the Office of Head Start and the Office of Child Care. He shut down five of the ten regional offices—which served 22 states and five territories—overnight.
“One of those offices was in Seattle. It served every Head Start program in Washington state—15,000 kids. In the Yakima Valley, a provider waiting on funding that never showed up had to lay off 72 employees and shutter a dozen classrooms, that served 400 kids. Now eventually that money came, but only after the layoffs. In Walla Walla, a program that has served kids for decades is warning it may not survive.
“Funding delays and uncertainty continue to persist. And let’s not forget, a leaked memo showed that Trump planned to eliminate Head Start altogether—straight out of Project 2025—until public outcry forced him to back down.
“He rolled back the rule raising pay for our Head Start teachers. His HHS tried to rewrite thirty years of guidance to turn Head Start into an immigration checkpoint—that one is stalled in court, but it already drove scared families to keep their kids home.
“If anyone doubts me, listen to the President’s own words. He said, ‘Don’t send any money for day care, because the United States can’t take care of day care…We’re fighting wars.’
“I taught preschool. I got into politics because politicians decided a preschool program wasn’t worth saving—one of them told me a mom in tennis shoes couldn’t make a difference. So here’s what happens now. This rule is not final. There is a public comment period. So, I want parents to weigh in. I want teachers to weigh in. Because I have seen what happens when enough ordinary people refuse to let something get ripped away from them.
“And on my end: I will press administration officials when they come before Congress. I’ll sound the alarm as loudly as I possibly can, and I will carry this fight into every negotiation I walk into. And Congress just funded Head Start at an increase, on a bipartisan basis, so let me be clear: Congress funds Head Start to be a Head Start.
“Trump is coming after America’s kids. That is unacceptable. This is not partisan. This is a program red and blue states rely on.
“Parents, teachers, and communities across America need to speak up and speak out—together we will beat this rule and save Head Start.”
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