'That's A Yes Or No Question': Raphael Warnock Presses HHS Nom For Information On Head Start Funding

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During a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Rapheal Warnock (D-GA) asked Alex Adams, President Trump's nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Family Support in the Department of Health and Human Services about Head Start.

Transcript

00:00is next. Thank you very much. Mr. Adams, welcome to you and to your family. I am a product

00:11of good public policy. I know what happens when we get the federal public policy right.

00:19I am a proud alum of Head Start. Head Start provided me and millions of others a great

00:30education and a strong start in life and if confirmed you would oversee Head Start, which

00:37serves over 800,000 children and families, 23,000 of which are in my state of Georgia.

00:44In April, HHS closed and consolidated five of the 10 regional Head Start offices. I'm hearing

00:51from providers in Georgia that these closures have resulted in reduced access for those children

01:00and their families. And that's why in April I sent a letter to Secretary Kennedy demanding

01:05answers. Sadly, I have yet to hear a response. Mr. Adams, I know you weren't involved in

01:14this decision. You stand before this committee seeking confirmation. But if confirmed, will

01:19you ensure that I will get an answer to my letter within the next 30 days?

01:25Senator, first let me just say thank you to your staff for opening their doors to me a

01:28couple weeks back and spending some time to get to know me and my positions for ACF. I'd

01:34reiterate what I said in my opening statement. Head Start is one of the priorities I want to

01:39focus on. My wife, who's here today, her grandmother ran a Head Start in Blackfoot, Idaho in the late

01:4560s and early 70s. Establishing a line of communication, ensuring that Head Start grantees across the

01:51country have access to the information they need when they need it is something that's important

01:55to me. And I look forward to working with you on that. In terms of legislative response,

01:59as you said, I can't speak to what's happened at the agency today. I'm not there.

02:03My question is, will you work to get me an answer to my letter within 30 days after you're

02:10confirmed? That's my question. Senator, legislative responsiveness is something that's always going

02:14to be important to me. I will ensure I can get you a response as quick as possible. As the

02:18nominee, I don't know all the sign-off processes internally at HHS, but I commit to getting you

02:23an answer as timely as possible. You've testified that you will support Head Start and work to ensure

02:30the program's success. How will you ensure the closures of regional offices do not further

02:36disrupt access to Head Start for families? I'm hearing from providers that it has disrupted services.

02:44Senator, so, well, I'd reiterate what Secretary Kennedy said, which is his intention is to make

02:49Head Start better and brighter by the end of this term. So one of the things, I run the Idaho

02:55Department of Health and Welfare. Head Start grants don't go through us. I have a Head Start

02:59collaboration office, but they're private entities and non-profit entities. To the extent that they

03:05don't have a line of communication, I'd be happy to work within the agency and set that up.

03:11So my question is, what will you do to make sure that these terminations aren't disrupting

03:17access to Head Start? You said you're a big supporter of Head Start. I would think you would be working

03:23hard to make sure that we don't have disruptions in services. We've seen the Trump administration

03:27in a very reckless way, whether we're talking about the CDC or other agencies, fire a lot of people

03:34across the board. And we know it's reckless for a whole range of reasons, but they've had to admit

03:40as much when they've had to go back and rehire some of the people they fired, saying, oops,

03:46we didn't quite know. Let's try to push that button. So I don't want people taking Head Start

03:54lightly. I'm sitting here today because Head Start lived up to its name. It gave me a Head Start. So

04:00if you are confirmed, will you commit to reviewing these terminations decisions? And will you report

04:07to this committee on the Office of Head Start's current ability to fully function and serve

04:15providers and families? That's a yes or no question.

04:19Senator, my job is to follow the law. So if errors have been made, I would look to correct those.

04:26But my job is to follow the law and ensure that all legal obligations related to Head Start are

04:30being fulfilled. Well, I'm not asking. I'm glad to hear that you will follow the law. That's an

04:35important answer. But I'm asking you about these terminations and their impact on Head Start operations.

04:41We've seen what happens when they push this button without taking stock of what it will actually do.

04:47So I'm asking you that will you review the terminations and then report back to this

04:53committee whether or not you think it's working? That's a management question. Yes or no?

04:58Senator, I'm happy to look at it.

05:02Will you report back to the committee? How will I know you've looked at it? Will you report back to

05:06the committee? I think it's a simple question, sir. Senator, legislative relations is really important

05:10to me. I will follow the internal practices to ensure that I am working with the legislature as

05:15expected. In your answers, I feel the pressure that you feel from the administration. I hope

05:22you will take account of what the people you're pledging to serve are actually feeling. Thank you

05:28very much.

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