WATCH: Baldwin Presses RFK, Jr. on MPS Lead Crisis, Head Start Closures at Senate Hearing
ICYMI: Senator Baldwin holds press call ahead of HELP hearing with RFK, Jr.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Hearing, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) pressed Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on mass layoffs at the agency that are impacting Wisconsin families, including firing lead experts that could be helping Milwaukee Public Schools respond to lead exposure. Senator Baldwin also pressed the Secretary on paused and delayed funding for Wisconsin Head Start, which provides childcare for 16,000 children statewide.
In early April, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) notified Milwaukee Public Schools that they would not be able to receive on-site help from lead experts because the Trump administration shut down the lead poisoning branch and fired the experts. The crisis has shuttered six schools and displaced 1,800 children in Milwaukee. Last month, Senator Baldwin and Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI-04) demanded the Trump administration reinstate the fired CDC lead poisoning experts and approve Milwaukee’s plea for federal assistance to help keep children safe.
Wisconsin Head Start programs are also feeling the impact of President Donald Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s slash and burn approach that is threatening essential services like child care. In February, following an illegal Trump Administration directive to freeze funding Congress approved, half of Wisconsin’s Head Start programs were unable to access their approved funding, forcing at least one program in Waukesha to shutter. In April, Senator Baldwin also revealed that Wisconsin Head Start had received $35 million less so far this year in funding compared to 2024, a 50% cut. HHS also announced in April that they are closing five regional Head Start offices across the country, including the Region 5 office in Chicago which serves Head Start grantees in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio.
A full recording of Senator Baldwin’s questions is available here. A full recording of her press conference ahead of this hearing is available here.
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