Pro-family proposals offer a glimpse at a post-Trump agenda
September 17, 2026
The vice-president’s views on families make him a hero to many Americans on the right and a ticking-time bomb to those on the left, wary of his opinions becoming national policy. Over the years J.D. Vance has criticised no-fault divorce and suggested that parents with children should have “more power” at the polls. “Normal Americans”, he has asserted, “want a family policy that doesn’t shunt their kids into crap day care”.
It was no surprise, then, when a small furore erupted this month after the New York Times reported that the White House would extend federal funds for families with children in day care to stay-at-home parents. Though the White House called the report “baseless speculation”, Rosa DeLauro, a Democratic congresswoman, was among those to condemn the idea, arguing that it would “force more parents to compete for the same inadequate pot of money” and “disproportionately hurt single working parents”. Rachel Campos-Duffy, a Fox News presenter, praised the proposal. “I call it putting families first.”
