HHS Violated Law by Withholding Head Start Program Funding: GAO Report

The federal government broke the law when it temporarily withheld funding for the Head Start early education program for low-income children, a nonpartisan government watchdog said in a report released on July 23.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in its report that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) violated the law by “withholding funds from expenditure” for the program between Jan. 20 and April 15, 2025.

Head Start is a federal grant program overseen aimed at helping children from low-income households prepare for school for free.

According to the watchdog, Congress appropriated the Head Start funding for fiscal year 2025, but HHS disbursed over $825 million less to Head Start grant recipients between that time frame compared to the same period last year, amounting to a roughly 65 percent funding cut.

HHS disputes the GAO report.

“HHS did not impound Head Start funds and disputes the conclusion of the GAO report,” a HHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times. “GAO should anticipate a forthcoming response from HHS to incorporate into an updated report.”

Head Start provides free learning and development services to children up to the age of five and, as of 2023, served over 778,000 children and pregnant women in centers, family homes, and family child care homes, according to HHS.

GAO provides the heads of executive agencies and the public with non-partisan information aimed at improving government operations and saving taxpayer funds, according to its website.

GAO said it had contacted the federal health department for factual information and the agency’s legal views regarding the potential impoundment of appropriated funds, but that “HHS has not provided the information we requested.”

The report said the government violated the Impoundment Act of 1974, which allows the president to delay or permanently cancel obligated funds under strictly limited circumstances, the watchdog said.

“Once enacted, an appropriation is a law like any other, and the President must implement it by ensuring that appropriated funds are obligated and expended prudently during their period of availability unless and until Congress enacts another law providing otherwise,” the report said.

The GAO also said the administration’s actions likely violated the Head Start Act, which states, “financial assistance … shall not be suspended, except in emergency situations, unless the recipient agency has been given reasonable notice and opportunity to show cause why such action should not be taken.”

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to overhaul HHS and make it more efficient while saving $1.8 billion per year.

In May, Kennedy said Head Start needs to be “consistent” with the Trump administration’s priorities, including “increasing parental choice; improving health, education, and employment outcomes; increasing program delivery efficiency; and promoting parental engagement.”