Democratic senators have accused Donald Trump’s administration of worsening the country’s childcare crisis, warning that rising costs and daycare closures are leaving families with fewer affordable options.
In a letter seen by the Guardian and addressed to Alex Adams, assistant secretary of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), senators led by Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts argue that federal cuts and changes to childcare programs like Head Start are destabilising an already fragile system.
Rising costs and closures
Childcare costs rose faster than overall inflation in 2025, the letter notes, while the cost of daycare and preschool increased by 3.5% in the year to May 2026.
“American families face skyrocketing child care costs,” the senators write, asserting that rising prices for food, supplies, insurance, rent and utilities are forcing providers to choose between increasing tuition fees and closing.
The letter says more than 400 daycare centres have closed in Oklahoma since November, while more than 300 programmes have shut in Indiana since September last year.
Head Start and funding concerns
The senators also criticise the administration’s handling of Head Start, the federal programme providing early education and other services to low-income children.
“The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unlawfully froze program funding for grantees mere weeks after President Trump took office – which forced some Head Start programs to temporarily close and left thousands of the country’s most vulnerable families’ child care with uncertainty – and withheld funding from grantees until they complied with the administration’s rigid requirements,” the letter says.
The letter also highlights an ACF decision in January to freeze $2.4bn in Child Care and Development Fund grants for five states. The freeze was subsequently rescinded after legal challenges, but the senators warned that a similar move could happen again.
Regulatory changes and requests for information
The senators say regulatory changes could also increase costs for families. In May, the ACF finalised a rule rescinding Joe Biden-era requirements including a federal requirement that states cap eligible families’ childcare co-payments at 7% of income and provisions requiring states to pay providers based on enrollment. The senators say the changes risk making childcare more expensive and could push providers out of business.
They also raise concerns about proposed changes to Head Start, including loosening or eliminating rules governing child-to-teacher ratios and rolling back wage and benefits requirements for staff. The letter says such changes risk worsening staff turnover and reducing access to high-quality, affordable care.
The senators ask ACF to provide information by 14 October on the number of childcare centers that closed since January 2025 and changes in average childcare costs.
They also request monthly data on Head Start and Child Care and Development Fund grants, details of support for centers facing closure and analysis of how the latest regulatory changes could affect costs and the number of childcare providers.
The group asks specifically whether ACF had calculated how much families’ costs would increase following the removal of the 7% co-payment cap, and how many centres could close as a result of the changes.
The letter is signed by Warren and six other Democratic senators: Raphael Warnock, Jeffrey Merkley, Andy Kim, Peter Welch, Ben Ray Luján and Angela Alsobrooks.
