Politics

"Last week, news broke that the Trump administration intends to propose zeroing out Head Start in the upcoming budget. While many people's immediate concern is rightfully for the hundreds of thousands of children and families whose lives would be upended, attacks on programs that exclusively serve low-income Americans are a popular tactic because that population votes at low rates.

“America’s food banks are facing a looming crisis under President Donald Trump‘s administration as proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits get closer to becoming a reality.

"Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has spent years boosting a federal program to support minority-owned businesses. President Donald Trump's administration dismantled it in a matter of weeks.

“When Republican leaders weigh which of their members might defy the party and defect on major legislation, Senator Jerry Moran’s name rarely comes up.

“As the Trump administration has hacked away at the Department of Health and Human Services these past few weeks, most of the attention has focused on the cuts applied to high-profile agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"If congressional Republicans go through with some of the deep Medicaid cuts they are considering, three states would be left in an especially tight bind.

“The layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services slashed the staffs of major federal aging, disability and anti-poverty programs, leaving the future of those programs uncertain.

“PLEASANTVILLE, Iowa — Zach Mecham has heard politicians demand that Medicaid recipients work or lose their benefits. He also has run into a jumble of Medicaid rules that effectively prevent many people with disabilities from holding full-time jobs.

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign to swiftly bar the use of food stamps to buy soda is fueling tensions between his team and the Agriculture Department, according to four people inside and outside government familiar with the dynamics.