Nope, not taking the bait. Following Donald Trump’s executive order freezing federal funding grants, vital programs across the country that millions of Americans rely on are shutting their doors — including Head Start pre-schools and community health centers — while the Republican Party sits back and watches.
In response, American Bridge 21st Century President Pat Dennis released the following statement:
“Republicans promised lower prices, but pull off the MAGA mask and…. surprise! It’s just Paul Ryan with a bad spray tan, coming for your health care, education, and other programs your family relies on. Voters will hold them accountable for this bait and switch.”
Here are just a few of the states already affected by the Head Start closures:
“In Wisconsin, the National Centers for Learning Excellence, which serves more than 200 children and their families, shut down for a week and laid off staff because it could not access its funding. It was set to reopen Wednesday morning, a day after the money materialized.
The closure was disastrous for families that rely on the Head Start centers, said Bill Walsh, the organization’s operations director.”
“After the White House’s Office of Management and Budget issued a memo calling for a temporary freeze of funding, local early childhood education programs through Head Start were briefly closed last Wednesday.
“Several Lansing-area locations laid off teachers amid confusion of whether the order included Head Start. At the same time, the organization lost access to their payment management system.”
“In Pennsylvania, at least six Head Start programs that collectively serve more than 1,000 children still hadn’t received expected federal payments as of the morning of Feb. 5, said Kara McFalls, executive director of the Pennsylvania Head Start Association.
“‘Families rely on this as a safe care place for their kids,’ McFalls said. ‘It’s a travesty that it would, in any way, shape, or form, be undermined.’”
“‘Donald Trump is looking at an illegal seizure of and stealing taxpayers’ dollars and taking it away from families, and particularly from children,’ DeLauro said. ‘It cannot stand. We will fight back.’”
“A week after President Donald Trump tried to freeze federal funding, a nonprofit that runs Head Start in six southwest Idaho counties still cannot access its money.”
“Ryan said Head Start programs continue to report that they are struggling to access their federal grant dollars, and across the country more than 20,000 children are being impacted and are now at risk of losing services.”
Here are just a few of the states already affected by community health center closures:
“Half of Virginia’s community health centers have been cut off from federal grant money, forcing some to stop providing certain services and others to close branches.
“The commonwealth has 31 Federally Qualified Health Centers with over 200 locations — a majority of which serve rural areas with limited access to medical care.”
“If PCHC can’t access its federal funding by the end of the day Friday, 25% of its workforce will be furloughed.”
As reports of more closures come in, American Bridge will be keeping track of them here.
Published: Feb 6, 2025