Trump funding freeze leaves rural red state voters in 'ruins': report

President Donald Trump’s disruption of another federal funding program is leaving red-staters in dire straits, according to a new report.

The Daily Yonder (a nonprofit outlet covering rural issues) reported Wednesday that Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program is a federal grant designed to support low-income student parents by subsidizing childcare, academic support and family resources. But the Trump administration has put program applications on hold while Republican majorities in Congress have refused to reauthorize the program. The funding freeze will disproportionately impact parents in rural counties, which broke for Trump by roughly 93 percent in 2024.

“... That’s left a lot of schools in limbo,” said Jinann Bitar, analytics director at student-advocate program EdTrust. “They’ve left [colleges] with the ruins of deciding how to move forward with their on-campus program if they potentially don’t have access to CCAMPIS funds.”

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater student parent and mother of two, Maddie Sweetman, told the Daily Yonder that childcare costs for some families in her community can exceed a monthly mortgage payment.

“With CCAMPIS being cut, all of a sudden the cost increased by about $2,000 for the semester, which is still less than average childcare costs,” said Sweetman. “But we’re not making a lot of money, so it’s still a large chunk.”

UW–Whitewater Children’s Center director Chelsea Newman said CCAMPIS funding eased financial strain on families and allowed rural students to access childcare that made it possible to work, remain enrolled, and succeed academically.

“Not receiving CCAMPIS funding will create more hardship and more stress. It will probably make it more difficult for [student parents] to continue going to school and getting their degree,” Newman said. “Without the funds, it’s gonna put more stress on the families, for sure, just on all fronts.”

The Yonder reports the Trump administration is now moving CCAMPIS from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services, further destabilizing the program’s future.

Rural voters, who are suffering under Trump’s economic policies, are turning away from the president and may vote out his Republican Party in the House and possibly the Senate in this fall's midterm elections.

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