EXCLUSIVE: Trump Nixes COVID-19-Era ‘Regulatory Burden’ on Early Education Program

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services has proposed a new rule removing the Biden-era requirement that government-funded preschool programs have a policy to mitigate COVID-19.

The direct final rule proposed by the Administration for Children and Families on Friday removes the requirement that Head Start programs have a COVID-19 mitigation policy. Head Start is a program helping children from low-income families to enter kindergarten.

“One of my goals as Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is to have a regulatory bonfire that torches all the unnecessary regulatory burden and outdated sub-regulatory guidance currently imposed on states and families,” Alex J. Adams, assistant secretary for the Administration for Children and Families, said in a statement to The Daily Signal.

“While our broader effort is underway to remove significant portions of what is stuck on our books, this Head Start COVID mitigation rule is emblematic of the rocks-in-shoes regulations the Biden administration foisted on children and families across our nation,” he continued.

The rule is in compliance with Trump’s executive orders “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation” and “Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions,” according to the Administration for Children and Families.

The Biden administration published the final rule titled “Mitigating the Spread of COVID-19 in Head Start Programs” on Jan. 6, 2023.

The Trump administration’s rescission removes the requirement from the Head Start Program Performance Standards that Head Start programs have a COVID-19 mitigation policy developed in consultation with their Health and Mental Health Services Advisory Committee, formerly the Health Services Advisory Committee.

“It is long overdue to get rid of pandemic-era regulations that do not serve the American people,” Adams said.

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