WASHINGTON – Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday told Congress the Trump administration would not cut funding for Head Start, after layoffs at the agency and funding freezes raised fears the six-decade-old program would be radically downsized.

In an appearance before a Senate subcommittee, Kennedy said the administration would “emphasize healthy eating in Head Start, and ensure the program continues to serve its 750,000 children and parents effectively.”

The early education program, which serves children from low-income and homeless families around the country, grapples with staffing shortages and many centers operate in a perpetual state of financial precarity.

While the program has been spared from elimination, Kennedy has laid off a significant number of employees who helped the program operate and shuttered half its regional offices. Providers have experienced repeated funding delays since President Donald Trump took office, forcing some to briefly close.

In a tense exchange, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, pressed Kennedy on why the federal government delayed sending funding to a Head Start operation outside Milwaukee, forcing it to close.

“What would you say to a parent who shows up for … Head Start and the doors are closed?” she asked him.

“I would be very sad,” Kennedy said. “I fought very hard to make sure Head Start gets all of its funding next year.”

Asked what was causing the delays, Kennedy said he did not know, but suggested the problem came from employees “who wanted to make the Trump administration look bad.”

Backers of Head Start had been fretting after a leaked Trump administration proposal suggested defunding it, but earlier this month a senior White House official told reporters there would be no changes to the program.

___

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.