Catherine Cortez Masto Grills Trump HHS Nom Alex Adams Over Head Start Funding

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During a Senate Finance Committee hearing in July, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) asked President Trump's nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Family Support at Department of Health and Human Services, Alex Adams, about funding for Head Start.

Transcript

00:00Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Adams, in conversation with Senator Lankford,

00:06you talked about the number of missing children, unaccompanied children that had come across the

00:11border in previous administrations. Can you agree to provide data on the number of children missing

00:18when you get into that position and what your agency intends to do about it? Will you provide

00:23that data and that information to my office and Senator Lankford's office? Senator, as the

00:30secretary has noted, finding those children is going to be paramount, the dangerous policies

00:35of the previous administration. I heard you say that. All I'm asking is for you to provide us with

00:39that information. Would you agree to do so? Senator, to the extent that information lives

00:43within the agency, I'm happy to work on reporting accurate data. Thank you. Just recently, President

00:51Trump and the Republicans passed a reconciliation bill that cuts $20 to $30 million from Nevada's

00:57Children Behavioral Health Services over the next five years. These cuts will hurt kids in foster

01:02care or with serious mental health needs, including programs that provide family therapy, crisis

01:09response, and care coordination. Much of Nevada's Medicaid is paid for, excuse me, much of Nevada's

01:16program is paid for by Medicaid, and it's carried out in partnership with the administration

01:21for children and families. Given these cuts, what steps will ACF take in coordination with CMS

01:29to sustain and help sustain Nevada and really across the country behavioral health programs

01:36for children in foster care? Senator, a couple things. I would first note that the Medicaid cuts,

01:42I would reiterate what the administration has said, the intention is not to have any impact on the

01:46core constituency of Medicaid. But it is. So what do you intend to do to help us address those cuts

01:51and make sure that we're not having an impact, negative impact, on our kids, both in foster care

01:57but also their behavioral health? Yeah. So, Senator, the way I view my role is I have about 60 programs

02:03assigned to me. I want to skillfully administer those. Within foster care in particular, I think an area

02:08to lean into is the 4E prevention services, where it is an additional source of funding available to states

02:14to provide effective prevention for substance use disorders, mental health, and related things.

02:20I want to make sure that there's no red tape and that states are able to build out robust

02:25prevention plans so that there are services available to families at risk of entering foster care.

02:32Okay. So if confirmed, you'll commit to using all available ACF tools and working with CMS to help Nevada

02:37sustain its children's behavioral health services?

02:40Senator, CMS is a separate operating unit that doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of ACF.

02:47I do see my role as working closely with Dr. Oz and CMS.

02:51Good. That's all I need to hear. That's all I need to hear. I only have so much time. Let me move on here.

02:56You've had a lot of conversations with my colleagues about Head Start because this administration

02:59has really taken an axe to Head Start and blocking nearly $1 billion in approved, let me just say approved,

03:07by this Congress, in a bipartisan way, Head Start funding this year.

03:13And you've talked about the Secretary's position on Head Start, which is he wants to have a better, brighter,

03:19make it better and brighter by the end of his term. What does better and brighter mean? I'm confused.

03:26Senator, I have not had conversations with the Secretary about that, so I'm operating off of publicly available information as the nominee.

03:33What would you bring to that conversation of better and brighter? How do you think it could be better and brighter?

03:37I think the congressional justification submitted with the budget, it's nail on the head.

03:41More parental engagement, better nutrition, more of a focus on healthy lifestyle.

03:45I think there's quite a few things that can be done to improve Head Start.

03:49The thing that excites me about ACF is how all of these programs work together.

03:53And I saw a study that Head Start engagement reduces participation in the child welfare system by 93%.

03:59So I think creating synergies across ACF programs is something that I'm really going to focus on.

04:05Thank you. Thank you. I only have a minute left.

04:07Mr. McKiernan, let me ask you this. Do you believe tariffs are a tax?

04:12Senator, I'm nominated for the role of domestic finance, the tariff and trade policies outside my domain.

04:18You don't have a position on where tariffs are a tax? You're going to be in the Department of Treasury.

04:22Senator, I intend to stick to my role here at domestic finance if I'm confirmed.

04:27Do you believe that it is important for the Federal Reserve to set interest rates independent of any interference from Congress or the President,

04:33even if the politicians and pundits are unhappy with monetary policy?

04:36Senator, as the Secretary said last night, monetary independence is a cornerstone of our economic prosperity.

04:43So according to Commerce Department estimates, our nation's real GDP fell by 0.5% in the first quarter of 2025.

04:50This marks a sharp drop from the 2.5% positive growth rate in Q4 of 2024.

04:55And it's the first time the American economy has contracted in three years.

04:58Are you concerned, given these troubling economic growth indicators,

05:03that it is a bad time now to be running up the federal deficit by trillions of dollars?

05:08Senator, I'm very optimistic about the path of the American economy.

05:12The President's leading on a pro-growth agenda, and I'm very excited to be a part of that.

05:16I know I'm over my time. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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