From CBS News
On November 7, 2025, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) introduced a bill to restore funding for Head Start programs during the ongoing government shutdown.
“My bill would give families certainty that Head Start and the care it provides will continue,” Baldwin said in a statement provided exclusively to CBS News. “If my Republican colleagues don’t want to sit down and talk about saving 22 million Americans from skyrocketing health care costs, I hope they can at least agree that 750,000 children and their families shouldn’t pay the price for Washington dysfunction.”
The Keep Head Start Funding Act of 2025 would ensure that programs could keep operating even if Congress hasn’t passed new appropriations bills. It would retroactively take effect from September 30th — immediately before government funding lapsed and the shutdown began.
At least 140 Head Start programs, serving 65,000 children, have not received federal funding to renew grants in October or early November, according to the National Head Start Association. As of November 1st, the organization says 20 programs have partially or fully closed as a result of the shutdown, affecting nearly 10,000 children.
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