In Rochester, Gillibrand Demands Trump Administration Reverse Decision To Rip Away Child Care Funding For New York

In Rochester, Gillibrand Demands Trump Administration Reverse Decision To Rip Away Child Care Funding For New York

Jan 16, 2026

Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) stood with elected officials and advocates to demand that the Trump administration abandon efforts to freeze the grants that provide child care assistance to thousands of families in New York.

"Investing in child care is investing in New York State's future,"said Senator Gillibrand. "The Trump administration's decision to freeze child care grants is a reckless political move that will hit Rochester families, children, and providers hard, along with working parents who are already stretched to the breaking point. If these cuts move forward, child care centers across the city could be forced to shut their doors, families will lose the support they depend on to stay in the workforce, and children will pay the price. I will continue working with state leaders to hold the administration accountable and fight to reverse this cruel and shortsighted decision."

Last week, the Trump administration froze $10 billion in funding for child care subsidies, social services, and cash support for low-income families in five Democrat-controlled states-including New York. The administration is claiming widespread fraud throughout these states, but it has not provided any evidence of this in New York. The funding freeze will harm tens of thousands of children in New York and threaten the livelihood of hardworking caregivers. Although a federal judge has since issued a 2-week pause on the funding freeze, this action has sown uncertainty amongst parents, children, and providers.

"Paying for quality child care has always been a partnership between the federal government, state and local governments, the private sector and families. But now the Trump Administration is breaking that partnership up, at least for New York and 4 other Democratic-governed states, by freezing federal funding, creating doubt and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of families. While that indefensible freeze is litigated in the courts, we need the federal government to recognize as Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Gov. Kathy Hochul have done that child care is a public good, as essential to our way of life as public education and transportation," said Larry Marx, CEO of the The Children's Agenda. "90% of brain development happens before children reach Kindergarten, and children rely on safe and supportive care settings to grow and thrive. But parents and businesses also rely on child care settings, too, to advance household income and to recruit and retain a reliable workforce. The federal government must come to its senses and rejoin New York as a partner in providing high quality, affordable access to child care for all families."

Senator Gillibrand discussed her bill, the Child Care Modernization Act, which would help expand quality, affordable child care for America's working families. She also emphasized the importance of child care assistance for working parents and demanded an immediate reversal of the administration's funding freeze.

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