Last fall, under Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico became the first state in the country to offer no-cost universal child care. Beginning November 1, the state eliminated income caps on eligibility for the state’s child care assistance program, opening it to all families regardless of their means.
Earlier this month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani followed suit with their own extraordinary joint initiative: To deliver free child care to all children under five, beginning with two-year-olds in New York City.
Both efforts are revolutionary and deserve far more attention than they’ve received so far.
Free child care would be a godsend to parents who would otherwise spend thousands on tuition, and a blessing for kids who may otherwise not have access to high-quality early childhood education. It’s pro-child, pro-family, and pro-growth. Child care challenges cost the US economy as much as $122 billion a year in lost wages and productivity, according to the First Five Years Fund.
Republicans and the Trump administration, on the other hand, can only claim to be “pronatalist” and “pro-family.” Their policies have wreaked nothing but destruction on the health and well-being of America’s kids.
Robbing families of child care. In stark contrast to Hochul, Mamdani, and Grisham, President Donald Trump tried to block child care funding to five Democratic-led states as part of an alleged crackdown on “fraud” last week. (A federal judge called the move illegal.) An earlier announcement had threatened to block federal child care funding to all states absent proof that funds “are being spent legitimately.” Yes, isolated cases of fraud are a problem—and the result of poor governmental oversight—but Trump’s blanket accusation is a pretext for punishing blue states, with families as collateral damage. Whatever regulatory obstacles the administration ultimately imposes will make it harder for all families to access child care. Many providers could go out of business, thereby exacerbating already-dire shortages.
Jeopardizing children’s health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new vaccine guidelines, announced earlier this month, reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11—a “radical and dangerous decision,” as epidemiologist Michael Osterholm told NPR.
Among the immunizations removed from the list is Hepatitis B, credited with reducing the incidence of infection in babies and teens by 99 percent. Absent immunization, 9 in 10 infants infected with Hep B will develop a chronic liver infection, according to the Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, and as many as 25 percent of these patients will eventually die from liver failure. Also off the recommended list is seasonal flu, which has proved unusually virulent this year. North Dakota, for instance, just reported its first pediatric flu deathsin 10 years, and 17 children have died so far nationwide. Nevertheless, Health and Human Services Secretary RFK, Jr. recently told CBS News that it might be a “better thing” if fewer kids got flu shots.
The Trump administration’s anti-vax posture has already helped ignite measles outbreaks in multiple states. South Carolina, for example, is currently dealing with more than 300 cases, primarily among unvaccinated children. Expect these epidemics to become more frequent—and deadly.
Wrecking public schools. Trump’s administration has waged a systemic assault on public education, beginning with the dismantling of the Department of Education by executive order this spring. This summer, Trump also froze billions in federal education funds granted by Congress until bipartisan pressure forced him to release the money. His 2026 budget request demands steep cuts in education funding and zeroes out grants for rural education as well as programs like McKinney-Vento, which provides support to homeless students.
The massive budget cuts included in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed by Congress last summer will also ratchet up financial pressure on public schools. Billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, for instance, could force cash-strapped states to cover shortfalls by slashing school funds. Program changes will also pummel school budgets directly, according to the School Superintendents Association. Medicaid helps fund school nurses, psychologists, and services for students with disabilities, and less funding will mean fewer services for needy kids.
Trump’s greatest hostility is reserved for the children already most at risk: kids who are transgender, kids with disabilities, kids who are undocumented, or who have undocumented parents.
Like any schoolyard bully who targets the smallest child on the playground, Trump has unleashed his cruelest instincts on America’s most vulnerable. Among the many heartbreaking incidents this year was the March deportation of an 11-year-old girl with brain cancer, along with her undocumented parents. Advocates have asked for “humanitarian parole” so the girl could continue her treatment, but as of last fall, federal immigration authorities hadn’t even bothered responding.
If a society is judged by how it treats its weakest members, all Americans should stand ashamed.
This post originally appeared on the Washington Monthly’s Substack
Anne Kim 