Several Senate Republicans expressed wariness to USA TODAY about deregulating the bipartisan program. "We can make it better," Sen. Jim Justice said. "But there are ways we can make it worse, too."WASHINGTON ‒ The Trump administration is overhauling Head Start, the preschool and childcare program relied on by hundreds of thousands of low-income families every year.Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. officially announced the changes on Aug. 6. He revealed his agency is pursuing a drastic rewrite of the regulations governing the nation’s roughly 1,600 Head Start providers. The effort, he argued, will cut red tape and make kids healthier."We are removing unnecessary bureaucracy, strengthening nutrition and physical health, trusting parents and local communities, and opening Head Start to hundreds of thousands more children," he said in a statement. But the proposal, which may be challenged in court, has alarmed many of Head Start’s staunchest advocates, including in Congress. It represents a new, more involved phase in the Trump administration’s handling of a long-bipartisan program that’s widely popular among Americans.The new plan lifts certain mandates on student-to-staff ratios, which in some schools and day care centers could lead to heftier workloads for teachers and babysitters. It also scraps child transportation requirements, including for school bus monitors, prompting fears of more barriers for parents to physically get their kids to preschool. And it requires that Head Start providers teach primarily in English.At the same time, there will be fresh dietary guidelines, plus a new directive for exercise that includes 30 minutes of physical activity for every 3.5 hours of classroom instruction.In critics’ eyes, throwing out longstanding federal rules ‒ about class sizes, special education, staff background checks and more ‒ could risk upending services nationwide and leaving children in unsafe environments. Joel Ryan, the executive director of the Washington State Association of Head Start, said the shift, which is still in its early stages, will “erode the quality” of programs across the country."It’ll make classrooms bigger. Kids will have less one-on-one support, especially kids that have significant issues," he said in an interview. "I really see this as an effort to dismantle the program."Alex Adams, one of Kennedy’s deputies who runs an HHS division called the Administration for Children and Families, said on a call with reporters this week that the new proposal will simply "allow local providers to make local decisions."He stressed that Head Start providers will still be subject to state and local regulations. And just because they’ll have fewer federal rules to follow doesn’t mean they should ignore what works for them, he said."Flexibility is permission. It’s not a mandate," he said. "The opportunity for these programs to make a different decision does not necessarily mean they must make a different decision."New phase for Head StartFor nearly two years now, Washington policy shifts have rocked Head Start providers and the families they serve.It started with unexpected grant freezes, which began within weeks after the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. Then, the federal government abruptly shuttered five field offices and laid off scores of staffers in the Office of Head Start. In April 2025, USA TODAY exclusively reported that the Trump administration was aiming to fully zero out funding for the program (officials later walked back that idea).Now, HHS is taking a different approach. Kennedy repeatedly cites the fact that his uncle, Sargent Shriver, helped found Head Start. He touted this week that he protected the program from "draconian cuts" last year. "The program works," he told reporters during a virtual briefing. "It’s really important that we protect it."HHS will publish its full proposed rule on Aug. 7, after which there will be a 60-day public comment period.Republicans wary of Head Start changesIn recent days, Senate Republicans have shrugged off rumors of the changes. Amid an attorney general confirmation fight and disputes over how to spend their last week in session before the August recess, several told USA TODAY they haven’t been following the issue very closely.Others have expressed wariness. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, said he explored reforms to Head Start at the state level when he was speaker of his state’s legislature years ago. He said he hopes the Trump administration is mostly streamlining the program rather than deregulating it."Just walking away and turning a blind eye toward it, I don't think that'd be a good idea," he told USA TODAY.Sen. Jim Justice, R-West Virginia, warned that though he supports making improvements, the program is already helping "a lot, a lot, a lot of kids" who "benefit phenomenally.""When we start tweaking with stuff, a lot of times we can make it better," he told USA TODAY. "But there are ways we can make it worse, too."Zachary Schermele is the congressional correspondent for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.