In recent decades, the Mother’s Day discourse — the op-eds, the insufferable millennial-crafted explainers, the viral social media posts — was mostly anti-motherhood.
Consider the Salon.com classic, “Why I Hate Mother’s Day.” Why? “It perpetuates the dangerous idea that all parents are somehow superior to non-parents. Meanwhile, we know the worst, skeeviest, most evil people in the world are CEOs and politicians who are proud parents.”
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We’ve turned a corner, it seems. On Mother’s Day this year, not only were husbands and sons fawning over mothers, but also Uncle Sam. Specifically, Republicans and conservatives, who traditionally would laud motherhood but fastidiously keep government out of it, tripped over one another to offer policy solutions for Mom.
Moms.gov launched on Mother’s Day this year, promising “Resources, Information, and Help for New and Expecting Mothers.” The website, published by the Trump White House, focused on those mothers in the most distress.
Pregnancy centers, not abortion providers, got top billing on Moms.gov. The website also provided sound nutrition information for expectant mothers and, of course, a link to create a Trump Account — a tax-privileged savings account for children to which the federal government will contribute $1,000 for every newborn.
President Donald Trump and members of his inner circle held a Mother’s Day Oval Office press conference to announce the website and a handful of policy changes, tweaking various maternal benefits.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is divorced from the mothers of his six children and who once allegedly told a paramour by text that he wanted to “impregnate” her, put a modern twist on the Oval Office event, calling Moms.gov “a one-stop shop for IVF.”
Mother’s Day affected both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, as some pro-Mom legislation was conceived on Capitol Hill.
A bipartisan group of congressmen proposed a $2,000 “newborn credit.” This is a partially refundable tax credit delivered to parents around the time their baby is born. Unlike the standard childcare subsidies, parents could use this cash however they want: an au pair, a plane ticket for grandma, or to offset lost wages for staying at home.
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And because some moms on Mother’s Day just want their alone time, Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT), one of the sponsors of that newborn credit, also introduced a bill to get the kids out of the house: The “Promoting Childhood Independence and Resilience Act,” would try to establish a nationwide norm that setting your children free to roam the neighborhood is not criminal neglect.
Sure, Mother’s Day 2026 included an unusual amount of content for “dog moms,” but it should be cheering that more and more folks are deciding that moms matter.
