2 Chinese nationals arrested at John Wayne Airport, allegedly used passports of American citizens

• September 29, 2026

Two Chinese nationals allegedly tried to enter the United States at John Wayne Airport last month with passports belonging to someone else, an incident that a federal prosecutor described as raising “serious national security concerns.”

Jin Fu Wei, 44, of Guangxi Province, China and Xiaodan Lei, 47, of the Henan Province have both been charged with misuse of a passport after they were flagged by customs officers following a flight from Mexico, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office statement.

First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli indicated that the incident went beyond a routine investigation.

“This case is not only a criminal matter,” Essayli said in a written statement. “It also raises serious national security concerns when foreign citizens are able to enter the United States under false identities. We have a right to know exactly who is crossing our borders and what their intentions are.”

According to prosecutors, Wei and Lei on Aug. 26 took a commercial flight from Los Cabos International Airport to John Wayne Airport. Upon arriving in Orange County, the two men presented U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers with passports of “actual U.S. citizens.”

The customs officers noticed that the facial recognition scans of Wei and Lei didn’t match the scanned U.S. passports they presented, according to federal prosecutors. And neither man’s actual name was on the flight manifest that listed all the passengers and crew aboard the flight, prosecutors added.

Both men were taken into custody at the airport. According to prosecutors, officers found a Chinese credit card and a Chinese bank card on Wei under his actual name, as well as an expired Texas driver’s license for the American man whose passport he allegedly tried to enter the country under.

Wei and Lei in interviews with law enforcement said they communicated with an unknown person on WeChat in order to arrange their travel to Mexico and to get U.S. passports, according to a sworn statement by an FBI agent. The two men reportedly said they did not previously know each other.

Wei said they bought U.S. passports from an unknown person in Mexico and gave that same person their own Chinese passports, the agent wrote. Once they entered the United States, the men were supposed to contact the unknown WeChat user, the agent wrote, and that person was supposed to arrange a meeting with another person who would take the U.S. passports from Wei and Lei and give them back their Chinese passports.

Both Wei and Lei said they did not know anything about the men whose passports they allegedly purchased, the agent wrote. But, according to a criminal complaint against Wei and Lei, at least one of the American passports belonged to a man who had previously been arrested and had a criminal history.

If convicted, each man faces up to 10 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.

​ Orange County Register 

Congress votes to end production of the penny after 234 years, sending a bill to Trump

• September 29, 2026

By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Mint stopped making pennies in 2025, but legislation passed by the Senate and headed to President Donald Trump’s desk will formally end their production after 234 years.

The bill, passed by voice vote late Monday, directs the government to not make pennies, giving a legal stamp of approval to the Trump administration’s decision to stop producing the currency last year. The penny, among the first coins to be made after the Mint was established in 1792, has become increasingly expensive to produce and is used by fewer and fewer consumers as digital transactions have become more standard.

Trump is expected to sign the bill. He wrote in a social media post last year that the U.S. has produced the 1-cent coin for “far too long.”

Ending the penny will save millions of dollars

The Mint says that production of a penny now costs almost 4 cents and that ceasing to make them would generate immediate savings of $56 million annually.

The bipartisan bill, called The Common Cents Act, was sponsored by Reps. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., and Robert Garcia, D-Calif.

“When it comes to taking on waste and making sure our tax dollars are spent wisely, it’s common sense that we should stop making a coin that costs nearly four times more than it’s worth to produce,” Garcia said.

Consumers can still use their pennies

Pennies are still in circulation, and the formal end to their production doesn’t mean consumers or stores can’t use them. The Mint said it made 3.2 billion pennies in 2024.

The bill outlines new procedures for stores as pennies are phased out, and it allows them to round transactions up or down to the nearest 5 cents.

Retailers had pushed for the bill to eliminate the threat of lawsuits as penny circulation has dwindled.

“Businesses across the country have faced cascading impacts from the lack of pennies in circulation, operating under constant uncertainty about how to handle cash transactions when exact change is unavailable,” a coalition of retailer groups wrote to House leaders in a letter earlier this year.

The bill would also allow the government to use an inner layer of zinc when producing the nickel, which could increase in circulation as the penny is phased out. The 5-cent coin is currently made from both nickel and copper, which is more expensive than zinc.

​ Orange County Register 

California consumer confidence tumbles to 13-year low

• September 29, 2026

This year’s surprising optimism of California consumers collapsed this month.

My trusty spreadsheet’s review of the Conference Board’s September report on monthly consumer confidence, released Sept. 29, found shopper psyche across the Golden State tumbled to its lowest level since March 2013.

The statewide index, built from constant public polling, plunged 35% from August, the third-largest one-month drop since tracking of California confidence started in 2007. September’s decline puts the index 31% below its 20-year average.

It’s a surprising turn. Previously in 2026, this optimism yardstick ran above its historic average and was outpacing the national index. The state’s resilient job market, aided by an artificial intelligence boom, likely helped the financial mindset of the typical Golden Stater.

So, what cracked California optimism?

There’s a war with no end in sight in Iran. Shoppers face surging gasoline prices, reheated inflation and rising interest rates. Plus, upcoming elections for governor and who will control Congress help to build uncertainty.

Not only does weak consumer confidence have political consequences, but if skittish shoppers prune their spending those cuts can further weaken the overall economy.

Look inside

Peek inside the index and you’ll see hints of what’s heightening anxieties.

The Golden State view of today’s economy soured.

California’s present situation index dropped to its lowest since December 2020 after falling 40% this month. That’s the fourth largest one-month dip since 2007, leaving this index 27% below average.

And Californians are still questioning the future.

The expectations index – measuring California’s financial outlook – fell to a level last seen in April 2025 and the second-lowest score since October 2011. September’s 30% slide was also the fourth-largest drop since 2007. This forward-looking index is 34% below average.

National nerves

Americans continue to be anxious as the U.S. consumer confidence index fell to its lowest level since April 2014. September’s 8% tumble put the index 11% below its 20-year average.

U.S. shoppers have mixed feeling about current conditions. The nation’s present situation index is at its lowest since February 2021 after falling 7% this month. However, the index remains 3% above average.

Their outlook is gloomy. Expectations fell to their lowest since April 2025 – and second-lowest since January 2013 – after falling 8% this month. This index sits 23% below average.

Stately status

The seven other states tracked by the Conference Board all had confidence slips in September.

But their long-term view of optimism is mixed, when comparing September’s results to their 20-year averages. Here are the scores, ranked by September’s moves in consumer confidence indexes:

– Florida: Lowest since November 2011 after falling 16% in a month to 13% below average.

– Michigan: Lowest since April 2026 after falling 16% in a month to 2% below average.

– Texas: Lowest since December 2020 – and second lowest since September 2012 – after falling 14% in a month to 20% below average.

– New York: Lowest since April 2025 after falling 12% in a month, but 7% above average.

– Ohio: Lowest since October 2016 after falling 13% in a month to 8% below average.

– Illinois: Lowest since March 2026 after falling 6% in a month, but 1% above average.

– Pennsylvania: Lowest since July 2026 after falling 1% in a month, but 3% above average.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com

• Try Jonathan Lansner’s Substack collection of economic trends. CLICK HERE!

August’s most popular Southern California real estate stories …

No. 1: Where is OC’s hottest homebuying neighborhood?

No. 2: 338-unit affordable housing complex breaks ground in Tustin

No. 3: Peek inside this Newport Coast estate that sold for $39M

No. 4: Enderle Center sold, Campo on 17th moves ahead in Tustin

No. 5: Rents rise in just 22% of SoCal. See which cities got hikes

No. 6: Home prices dip in 38% of OC. How did your ZIP do?

No. 7: LA-OC’s worst-paying jobs: Can those wages pay the rent?

No. 8: LA-OC homes still ‘unaffordable’ even with a 0% mortgage

No. 9: Corona del Mar retail center trades hands, a first in 80 years

No. 10: California housing is frozen, but not underwater

​ Orange County Register 

The final showdown of Alaska’s Fat Bear Week comes down to heavyweights Bear 910 and Backpack

• September 29, 2026

After a week of fierce competition, Bear 910 and Backpack have emerged as the final contenders to be named the heftiest bear of Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve.

There can only be one winner of Fat Bear Week, and it’s up to the voters to decide Tuesday.

The contest, which is in its 12th year, celebrates the resilience of the 2,200 brown bears that live in the preserve on the Alaska Peninsula, which extends from the state’s southwest corner toward the Aleutian Islands. Fat Bear Week was started in 2014 as an interactive way to inform the public about brown bears, the coastal cousins of grizzlies.

Last year’s winner, Chunk — known officially as Bear 32 — clinched his victory at an estimated 1,200 pounds. He was handily defeated in the first round of competition this year by Bucky, who went on to lose a faceoff against Backpack, known officially as Bear 89.

The event this year featured 16 bears vying for the heavyweight title in a single-elimination, bracket-style tournament. All voting is done online at www.fatbearweek.org, and a winner will be declared Tuesday evening after the final poll closes. The public can watch the bears on explore.org’s livestream cameras before deciding on their favorite.

“Fat bears are successful bears,” the nonprofit says on its website. This group gorges itself on the abundant salmon that return to the Brooks River starting in late June. It’s there that they can stuff themselves to accumulate the fat reserves they’ll need to survive the winter. To be featured in the contest, the bears must frequent the area around the river.

Adult male brown bears typically weigh 600 to 900 pounds (about 270 to 410 kilograms) in midsummer. By the time they are ready to hibernate after feasting on migrating and spawning salmon, large males can weigh well over 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms). Females are about one-third smaller. The bears may each eat as many as 30 fish a day this time of year, working hard to eat a year’s worth of food in about six months.

During winter hibernation, the bears do not eat or drink and lose one-third of their body weight.

Fat Bear Week’s contestants also include five bear families, in recognition of the record high number of families and cubs at the river this summer. A mother must feed and protect her cubs while also eating enough calories to sustain herself through hibernation. Cubs often face the risk of attack by other bears due to territorialism or food scarcity.

Bear 132 and her three spring cubs advanced to the semifinals, but lost out to Bear 910.

Bear 132 has become one of the largest and most experienced mother bears at Brooks River, according to the nonprofit’s contestant profiles. In mid-July, one of her cubs became separated from the family for several days, wandering the river corridor alone. They were reunited a few days later.

​ Orange County Register 

National Coffee Day: Where to find free coffee and deals today

• September 29, 2026

If you’re anything like me, you’ll never pass up a free coffee.

National Coffee Day lands on Sept. 29, and this year’s freebies span breakfast spots, coffee chains and even a burger joint. Here’s where to get your cup — no purchase necessary at some, a small one required at others.

• Caribou Coffee: Get a free medium hot coffee or cold brew with the purchase of another beverage at participating stores nationwide.
• DoorDash: The delivery company is offering a few deals to celebrate. Make a $15 purchase and get a free medium hot or iced coffee from Dunkin’ on Sept. 29. If you have a Scooter’s Coffee near you, buy one medium Carmelicious drink on DoorDash and get one free from Sept. 27-29.
• Dunkin’: Rewards members can get a free medium hot or iced coffee with any purchase through the Dunkin’ app.
• Klatch Coffee: Get a free Competition Cappuccino (also known as a “Comp Capp”) if you use the promo code provided in the Klatch mobile app on Sept. 29. Limit one per guest.
• Paris Baguette: Rewards members can get a free medium hot or iced coffee with any purchase.
• Peet’s Coffee: Get a medium drip coffee for only 25 cents.
• Whataburger: You might know them for their burgers, but they’ll be giving out a free 16-ounce hot or iced coffee with no purchase necessary to celebrate the day.

If you’d rather brew your own cup at home, there’s a deal for you:

• Keurig: The brand of at-home coffee makers is running a sale through Sept. 29. Shoppers can get discounts on brewers, accessories and K-Cup pods when they shop at keurig.com. Boxes containing 20 or 24 pods will cost $12 (regularly $19-$22), and the K-Duo in moonlight gray is on sale for $139.99 (originally $219.99).

Not a deal, but a special release:

• Krispy Kreme: Try an all-new glazed coffee-flavored doughnut starting Sept. 26.
• Starbucks: They’re introducing some new flavors, including the Aerocano, a take on the iced Americano, and three mini pies.

Amanda Barroso writes for NerdWallet. Email: abarroso@nerdwallet.com.

The article National Coffee Day: Where to Find Free Coffee and Deals on Sept. 29 originally appeared on NerdWallet.

​ Orange County Register 

Do I have the right to euthanize my dog? Ask the Lawyer

• September 29, 2026

Q: Like many others, I came to a terrible, nightmarish situation where my dog was in the last stages of his life. He was 15, unable to stand well, not eating and, finally, not in full control of basic functions. Our veterinarian was kind and thoughtful, and helped with making a decision not to let him suffer further. One question that nags at me is what right I have to even make that decision?

H.P., Tarzana

A: So many have had a similar experience. It is so very tough.

Your question raises considerations that are philosophical, moral, legal and practical. Under California Civil Code Section 655, the dog is your property, which you can legally own. The dog is not, however, generally considered a legal person with rights similar to what you may claim. The dog cannot vote, for example, or enter into a contract itself. You can act for the dog, in its best interests.

But, to be sure, you are subject to criminal prosecution if you engage in conduct toward the dog that is malicious and/or intentional that would wound, torture or kill the animal. There are a wide variety of actions and inactions that can rise to the level of punishable animal cruelty under California Penal Code Section 597. This can include overworking the animal.

California Penal Code Section 597.1 addresses some circumstances in which a dog may be humanely euthanized by the government, or by an official acting on behalf of the government. Unnecessary suffering can be a significant part of the evaluation.

Bottom line, a bona fide, humane euthanasia, which is done to prevent or end serious, unnecessary suffering, is not cruelty. Rather, it can be considered genuinely merciful. Significant care must be taken with such decision making, however, since it literally is a life or death choice. A very sad, often extremely difficult choice.

Q: Just what is considered animal cruelty here?

H.D., Lawndale

A: As noted above, California Penal Code Section 597 sets forth many types of behaviors that are illegal. Overworking is mentioned in the prior response. Other behavior that is outlawed includes depriving the animal of necessary sustenance or shelter, tormenting or torturing, cruelly beating or, to quote the code in part: “… subjects an animal to needless suffering, or inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon the animal, or in any manner abuses an animal …”

Health requirements

While California does not have a blanket rule that requires each dog to be microchipped, certain localities do (such as Los Angeles County for dogs older than 4 months; check to see if the regulation applies to your city of residence). California does require dogs older than 4 months to be rabies vaccinated and licensed.

Ron Sokol has been a practicing attorney for more than 40 years, and has also served many times as a judge pro tem, mediator, and arbitrator. It is important to keep in mind that this column presents a summary of the law, and is not to be treated or considered legal advice, let alone a substitute for actual consultation with a qualified professional.

​ Orange County Register 

GOP doubts about Georgia and North Carolina have Republicans shifting focus in battle for Senate

• September 29, 2026

By THOMAS BEAUMONT, BILL BARROW and STEVEN SLOAN

ATLANTA (AP) — Republicans once saw Georgia and North Carolina as promising pieces of their strategy to keep control of the Senate. But hopes of winning the two states have been fading, and the GOP is increasingly focused on playing defense elsewhere with five weeks until the midterm elections.

Republicans haven’t abandoned the Southern battlegrounds, which Donald Trump carried narrowly in the 2024 presidential race, though they are shifting greater resources to states they see as more competitive. The party now is spending heavily to defend reliably Republican Texas, and Trump is planning to campaign for the Republican incumbent in Ohio, both places Trump won easily in 2024.

Some Republicans also have become more vocal in their complaining that Trump has squandered an opportunity to more comfortably hold off Democrats this fall. Among their grievances, they say the president failed to bring the unpopular war in Iran to a close, has dismissed the pinch of high fuel prices and engaged late in the midterm campaigns.

And though Democrats must still win several seats Republicans hold to win back the majority, the GOP is looking more at protecting seats they already hold than picking up Georgia, and they are signaling serious problems in North Carolina.

“There is a Republican turnout problem due to the administration’s failure to address the economic concerns of voters,” North Carolina Republican strategist Paul Shoemaker said of the state’s U.S. Senate race.

GOP Senate leaders look beyond Georgia

Republican Senate campaign leaders are looking past Georgia businessman Mike Collins’ challenge of first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff to states they viewed as more competitive to focus future spending, according to two Republican Senate campaign officials familiar with Senate leadership’s thinking. The campaign officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions.

Ossoff has swamped the successful trucking company executive in fundraising. Collins has also struggled to broaden his support beyond Georgia’s Republican base.

Despite Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s two-day campaign and fundraising trip to Georgia this month, some local party leaders were publicly pessimistic.

“He just doesn’t have what it takes to beat Ossoff,” said Tim Waters, Peach County Republican Party chair. “It’s hard enough trying to beat an incumbent, and you have the president of the same party in a tough midterm, right? I don’t think he’s got much of a shot.”

Republicans had viewed Georgia early in the 2026 campaign as a potential firewall, should Democrats win in a critical number of states where Republican seats are on the ballot. Democrats must win a net of four seats to win back the majority.

But Ossoff has already spent $57 million in advertising and had $13 million reserved through the election, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. And while outside groups aligned with Collins had spent more than $52 million, AdImpact shows, Collins’ campaign confirmed it had no advertising time immediately reserved.

Tillis is among the NC Republicans warning about Senate race

Retiring Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis stopped short of suggesting GOP candidate Michael Whatley’s chances of holding the seat for the party had vanished, but implied it was time to take a hard look at how long to continue spending heavily against Democratic former two-term Gov. Roy Cooper.

“We’ve got to place our bets on the candidates that are the best run, either ahead or within striking distance,” Tillis told reporters Monday in the Capitol. “You’ve got to change your posture going into the last — we’ve got 36 days.”

Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman, has been a darling of Trump, who campaigned for him this month. But enthusiasm for Trump seems to have fallen even with a number of Republicans who voted for him, said Shoemaker, a Tillis adviser. Trump narrowly won North Carolina in 2024.

“The blue-collar, working-class voters that Donald Trump brought to the Republican Party is the one that’s being most impacted by higher energy prices, and it’s dampened their enthusiasm to turn out and vote,” Shoemaker said.

Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP’s leadership super PAC, had $19.5 million in advertising booked in North Carolina, having spent $30.4 million to date.

“Do I think Roy Cooper is going to win the race? I absolutely do,” said Michele Woodhouse, former Republican chair for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District and a devout Trump supporter.

“Roy Cooper, for Republicans, is the worst Democrat candidate who could be running for this seat,” Woodhouse said. “He’s never lost in a statewide race. He’s very popular.”

Senate GOP PAC spends heavily in Texas as Trump heads for Ohio

In Texas, where Democrats have not won a Senate election since 1988, Republicans’ Senate Leadership Fund is spending more than it is in any of the states it set out to defend early in the year. The group this month pumped more than $100 million into advertising in Texas to back up state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who faces Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in a race viewed as very competitive.

Trump endorsed Paxton over four-term incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary. GOP campaign leaders considered Paxton a potential drain on Republican resources because he has for years faced legal, ethical and personal questions. They include a felony indictment, impeachment charges and extramarital affairs, though Paxton was never convicted.

Senate GOP leaders had suggested Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., would carry a good portion of the advertising load after Paxton beat Cornyn in the May GOP Senate runoff. Neither the National Republican Senatorial Committee nor SLF had included spending on Texas in its midterm budget.

As of Monday, MAGA Inc. has committed more than $20 million to ads supporting Paxton so far this month, compared with the $124 million from SLF.

Should Democrats win North Carolina and Texas, they would only need to win two of the remaining competitive Republican-held seats — in Alaska, Iowa, Maine and Ohio — as well as hold competitive Democratic-held seats in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire to capture the majority.

Trump plans to visit Ohio on Saturday to support Sen. Jon Husted as the Republican tries to fend off a competitive challenge from Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown. The president plans to campaign with Husted in Vandalia, near Dayton in southwest Ohio.

Senate Republican campaign leaders have complained that spiking gas prices, a result of the seven-month-long war with Iran, are among the issues weighing against candidates that Trump has exacerbated.

Campaigning with Whatley last week, Trump called higher fuel prices “a very inexpensive price to pay” for preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Though gas prices are near historic highs, they are still below the nationwide record set in 2022.

It’s prompted some candidates, such as Iowa’s GOP Senate nominee, Rep. Ashley Hinson, to speak out.

“Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran,” she said last week.

South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds dismissed that the Republican majority was slipping away, but suggested senators needed to act on fuel prices.

“We have to stay focused on the fact that we know that gas prices are too high, and diesel is way too high,” the Republican said.

Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Sloan from Washington. AP reporter Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Va., contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Head Start preschools serve parents, too. Under Trump, advocates fear that will change

• September 29, 2026

By MORIAH BALINGIT, AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Cassie Reed and her two young children had just moved from a domestic violence shelter into a third-floor apartment in Spokane, Washington, when she spotted a soon-to-open Head Start preschool on the building’s ground floor.

Much of Reed’s first three decades of life had been shaped by abuse and neglect: first, she says, at the hands of her biological mother, then in foster care and, when she became an adult, in a series of romantic relationships. She had lost custody of three older children a decade earlier, in part because she lacked stable housing. By March 2022, when she had finally landed an apartment in a transitional housing program, she had lost all faith in herself.

None of that was apparent this September, when she traveled to the nation’s capital to tell members of Congress how her life changed when she enrolled her children in Head Start.

Reed says Head Start helped her heal from three decades of trauma and abuse. Staff connected her to job training, taught her how to be a better mother, helped her advocate for her son’s disability accommodations at his elementary school, and urged her to join the council that oversees Head Start across Spokane County, Washington. She was elected the council’s president last year.

Head Start was, Reed says, “a warm blanket in a time where I constantly felt cold.”

That could be changing.

Last month, President Donald Trump’s administration proposed gutting Head Start regulations that spell out how programs must support families with financial, education or housing concerns. Many of the services now mandated would become optional.

Head Start was founded to help both kids and parents

Reed’s transformation was no fluke: Head Start’s services for low-income parents have been central to its model for decades.

“Being told that somebody believes in you and thinks you’re a good parent after so much loss — it didn’t feel real at first,” Reed said. “It took probably a year or two for me to be like, ‘OK, maybe I am. Maybe I just went through something that was really hard, but I was doing the best that I could.’”

Head Start, a six-decade-old preschool program, works to lift children and their families out of poverty. Its two-generation approach is rooted in the idea that improving caregivers’ lives is as essential to a child’s success as what happens in the classroom. Parents can also serve on committees that help set the direction of their kids’ preschool.

“It’s always had that family connection,” said Loukisha Smart-Pennix of the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago, which oversees several Head Start centers. “That’s been part and parcel of what Head Start was built on.”

Smart-Pennix said she’s proof the approach works. When she was in the program as a preschooler in the 1970s, Head Start connected her mother with a factory job. Two decades later, when Smart-Pennix enrolled her son, the center employed her and pushed her to go to college. By the time her daughter was old enough to enroll, she earned too much to qualify. (Generally, families qualify for Head Start if their income is at or below the federal poverty line, currently $33,000 for a family of four.)

Under current regulations, Head Start asks parents to set goals — to return to school, to buy a home — and then helps them stay on track to achieve them. Parents have described how Head Start has helped them stay sober, finish school, pay off debt or simply keep the lights on. Operators are required to give hiring preferences to current and former Head Start parents, so many end up working for the program. Some eventually run their own preschools.

The Trump administration proposal would water down many of the family support regulations. Goal-setting with families would be optional, as would hiring preferences for Head Start parents. It would also scrap requirements for an open-door policy that gives parents liberal access to their child’s classroom and cancel a mandate that staff visit homes and hold parent-teacher conferences at least twice per year. Programs would no longer be required to help parents navigate Medicaid, even as the government-funded health insurance program’s rules are becoming more complex.

Head Start preschools would also have the option of eliminating parent committees, formal groups that weigh in on curriculum and programming. And policy councils, which have parent members, would see their authority weakened under the proposal.

Alex Adams, who leads the Department of Health and Human Services office overseeing Head Start, said the goal of the changes is to empower local leaders and to increase efficiency, enabling programs to serve up to 236,000 more children without additional funding.

“A one-size-fits-all mandate from Washington cannot fully account for the realities facing these 1,600 grantees” that operate Head Start preschools, Adams told reporters in August. “Federal mandates can certainly hinder local decision-making, drive up costs and limit the program’s reach.”

The Department of Health and Human Services said the proposal still recognizes the importance of parents in a child’s learning, “but substantially reduces hyper-specificity for how to fulfill requirements, specifically around how programs must engage parents and families in education and child development services.”

“The proposal gives programs room to make thoughtful adjustments when local circumstances call for them,” the department said in a statement.

A push to enroll more children in larger classes

Head Start backers see the proposal not as a chance for flexibility but as another effort by the Trump administration to undermine the longstanding program. Days after Trump, a Republican, took office in early 2025, some Head Start programs temporarily closed their doors due to problems accessing their federal money. Later, a White House budget draft proposed eliminating funding for Head Start. The funding was restored after widespread backlash.

Adams emphasized programs wouldn’t have to use the flexibility in the proposal if they want to continue operating as they have.

“It’s not a mandate,” Adams told reporters. “The opportunity for these programs to make a different decision does not necessarily mean they must make a different decision.”

But advocates are skeptical. The administration’s proposal eliminates requirements for small class sizes and scraps caseload limits for family support specialists. Centers instead would abide by their state’s early learning regulations, which are often more lenient.

With more kids, fewer teachers, rising costs and no material increase in funding, advocates worry programs would be forced to dilute some of Head Start’s signature offerings. The Trump administration’s own projections show that to add 236,000 slots for kids, Head Start centers would have to eliminate about 25,000 teacher jobs, increase class sizes and cut three-quarters of the staff who provide in-home education for new parents.

Reed says she worries the changes could mean fewer success stories like hers.

That’s how she ended up in Washington, D.C. When Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., took a seat next to her, Reed grew nervous.

“Is it OK if I just read something from my phone?” she asked, shaking. Murray nodded.

She told the senator, a former preschool teacher, about the day she moved from a domestic violence shelter into transitional housing.

“At the bottom of our stairs was a Head Start center,” she said. “I had no idea how much it would change our lives.”

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.

​ Orange County Register