By JOCELYN GECKER

The Trump administration is asking Congress to eliminate funding for Head Start, a move that would cut early education for more than half a million of the nation’s neediest children and child care for their families.

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The proposal is tucked in a 64-page internal draft budget document obtained by The Associated Press that seeks deep cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start. It is still in a highly preliminary phase as the White House prepares to send Congress its budget request for the 2026 fiscal year.

It is not clear if the proposed cuts will be accepted by lawmakers. While Congress often ignores a president’s budget request, the proposed elimination of Head Start highlights the administration’s priorities as President Donald Trump seeks to overhaul education in the United States.

“The budget does not fund Head Start,” according to the draft. It says eliminating the program is consistent with the Trump administration’s “goals of returning control of education to the states and increasing parental control.”

“The federal government should not be in the business of mandating curriculum, locations, and performance standards for any form of education,” the document says.

Spokespeople for Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment.

Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has vowed to dismantle the Department of Education, has banned diversity initiatives at schools and has frozen funding at several elite universities in an attempt to force change at colleges that Republicans say have become hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism.

The Head Start program had already been hit this year by layoffs and funding lags, along with a glitch this winter that briefly locked preschool providers out of their federal accounts. The private and public schools that run Head Start classrooms are deeply reliant on federal money, and this year’s funding problems have caused some preschools to close temporarily.

Those closures cut off child care for hundreds of thousands of low-income families, for whom a day without work is often a day without pay.

The National Head Start Association said it was “deeply alarmed” by the administration’s proposal to stop funding the six-decade-old program.

“It reflects a divestment in our future,” said Yasmina Vinci, executive director of the NHSA, in a statement Thursday. “Eliminating funding for Head Start would be catastrophic. It would be a direct attack on our nation’s most at-risk children, their well-being, and their families.”

Head Start is more than just a preschool program, Vinci said. It provides meals and health screenings and helps level the playing field for children who might otherwise fall behind before starting kindergarten. Many Head Start children are in foster care or are homeless.

FILE – Family Educator Lisa Benson-Nuyen, addresses her students in a circle in the Northern Lights classroom at the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Wasilla, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

A lag in funding to Head Start since January has caused some Head Start preschool classrooms to close. The federal government has distributed $1.6 billion for Head Start from Jan. 1 through Tuesday, compared with $2.55 billion issued during the same period last year, according to the office of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., which has been analyzing a federal database. Murray said the Trump administration had “slow-walked” funding appropriated by Congress.

“This administration believes we cannot afford to help families get preschool or help kids get basic health services, but we can afford trillions of dollars more in tax breaks for billionaires,” Murray said earlier this week. “It’s offensive and just plain wrong, and let me be clear: Democrats won’t let a proposal like this go anywhere in Congress.”

“But that doesn’t mean Head Start and so many other programs aren’t under grave threat — because Trump has proven he’ll ignore our laws and do whatever he can to break these programs on his own,” Murray said.

Head Start operates in all 50 states. Parents who otherwise would not be able to afford child care rely on it when they work or go to school. Supporters say that underscores the importance of Head Start to the economy and at-risk children alike.

While Head Start has enjoyed bipartisan support since its creation under President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, some Republicans have emphasized its shortcomings and criticized efforts to increase funding. And Project 2025, the policy blueprint created by the conservative Heritage Foundation, called for eliminating Head Start altogether.

AP Education Writers Cheyanne Mumphrey and Moriah Balingit contributed.

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.

By PHILIP MARCELO

NEW YORK (AP) — Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos “remains unrepentant” as he faces years in federal prison for fraud and identity theft, federal prosecutors say, citing a tirade of his social media posts in recent days.

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Prosecutors, in a legal filing Thursday, bolstered their arguments for a stiff sentence, saying the 36-year-old New York Republican has disparaged the U.S. Department of Justice as a “cabal of pedophiles” and cast himself as a victim of prosecutorial overreach in multiple posts on the social platform X.

“This conduct is antithetical to the ‘genuine remorse’ claimed by Santos’s attorneys,” prosecutors wrote. “His actions speak louder than any words, and they cry out for a significant carceral sentence in this case.”

Lawyers for Santos didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The social media blitz started April 4 after prosecutors and Santos’ lawyers submitted their sentencing memos to a judge for consideration during his April 25 sentencing in Long Island federal court.

“No matter how hard the DOJ comes for me, they are mad because they will NEVER break my spirit,” Santos wrote in one post.

In another exchange on X, he denied using campaign contributions to buy luxury goods from Hermès, which prosecutors note is conduct specifically mentioned in court documents.

“Even at this late stage, he simply refuses to fully own up to his actions,” they wrote in their Thursday filing, which included screenshots of the social media posts.

Prosecutors are seeking a seven year prison sentence for Santos, saying his “unparalleled crimes” had “made a mockery” of the country’s election system.

They’ve also suggested he has a “high likelihood of reoffending” given he has not forfeited any of his ill-gotten gains or repaid any of the victims.

Santos’ lawyers, meanwhile, have sought a two-year prison term, which is the mandatory minimum sentence for aggravated identity theft.

The lawyers argue that Santos has no prior criminal record and that such a sentence is in line with those handed to former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and other political figures who faced similar financial crimes.

Santos admitted in August that he duped voters, deceived donors and stole the identities of nearly a dozen people, including his own family members, to make donations to his congressional campaign.

As part of the plea deal, he agreed to pay nearly $375,000 in restitution and $205,000 in forfeiture.

Santos was elected in 2022 to represent parts of Queens and Long Island, but served barely a year in office before he was ousted by his House colleagues — the sixth ever in the chamber’s history.

The once-rising Republican’s political demise came after it was revealed that he had fabricated much of his life story, leading to questions about how the political unknown had funded his winning campaign.

Santos cast himself as a wealthy businessman who worked at prestigious Wall Street firms and held a valuable real estate portfolio when in reality he was struggling financially and even faced eviction.

Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER

NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione was indicted Thursday on a federal murder charge in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a necessary step for prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

The indictment returned by a grand jury in Manhattan federal court also charges Mangione with two counts of stalking and a firearms count.

It was not immediately clear when the 26-year-old Mangione will be arraigned. A message seeking comment was left for a spokesperson for his lawyers.

Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family, also faces separate state murder charges. He’s accused of shooting Thompson, 50, in the back outside a Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4 as the executive arrived for UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced this month that she had directed federal prosecutors in Manhattan to seek the death penalty, following through on the president’s campaign promise to vigorously pursue capital punishment.

It’s the first death penalty case sought by the Justice Department since President Donald Trump returned to office in January with a vow to resume federal executions after they were halted under the previous administration.

The killing and ensuing five-day manhunt leading to Mangione’s arrest rattled the business community, with some health insurers hastily switching to remote work or online shareholder meetings.

It also galvanized health insurance critics — some of whom have rallied around Mangione as a stand-in for frustrations over coverage denials and hefty medical bills.

Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind. Police say the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were scrawled on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase commonly used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

By TARA COPP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot was asked to resign this week, a senior defense official told The Associated Press on Thursday, in the latest shakeup for the Defense Department following firings and other changes under President Donald Trump.

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Ullyot was one of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s initial hires for the communications office and oversaw some of its most highly visible but controversial moves, including a broad edict to the military services to strip away online images and other content considered a promotion of diversity, equity or inclusion.

That directive, given under a wide-ranging Trump administration effort to purge so-called DEI content from federal agencies, led to public outcry when images of national heroes like Jackie Robinson were briefly removed.

Ullyot’s departure is the fourth this week among Hegseth’s former inner circle. Three other senior officials were escorted from the building this week after being implicated in an ongoing investigation into information leaks: Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg; Darin Selnick, Hegseth’s deputy chief of staff; and Dan Caldwell, an aide to Hegseth.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – MARCH 06: Pentagon Press Secretary John Ullyot listens as U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth answers a reporter’s question while meeting with UK Defense Secretary John Healey at the Pentagon with members of their respective teams on March 6, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. Healey is meeting with Hegseth to discuss a possible peace plan for Ukraine. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

It was not immediately clear what leaks led to the departures. Caldwell and Selnick had worked with the defense secretary during his time leading the nonprofit Concerned Veterans for America.

Under Hegseth, the communications office has made significant changes to how it works with Pentagon reporters, including removing many news outlets from their longtime workspaces and not yet holding weekly briefings.

Ullyot was transferred out of the communications office in late March following the blowback from the Pentagon’s purge of Robinson and a bungled public affairs response. Also, in his emailed responses to journalists, Ullyot referred to himself as the Pentagon press secretary. But Hegseth had hired Sean Parnell to speak for him from the Pentagon’s podium.

In an emailed response to the AP on Thursday, Ullyot said he told Hegseth when he was hired he “was not interested in being number two to anyone in public affairs” and that the understanding was always that he would stay only for about two months to help get the communications office up and running. When no other suitable position was found for him, Ullyot said he decided to resign.

But a senior defense official familiar with the decision said that wasn’t the case and that Hegseth’s office had requested that Ullyot resign.

Ullyot, who shared his resignation letter with AP, disputed the official’s account, calling it “flat out false and laughable.”

Ullyot’s resignation Wednesday was not tied to the inquiry into the unauthorized disclosures. Two other U.S. officials said Carroll, Selnick and Caldwell were placed on leave in that investigation.

All three officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not been made public.

The departures follow a purge of senior military officers, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown; Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti; National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command director Gen. Tim Haugh; and Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee.