Can LIHEAP Be Saved?

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program helped more than six million households pay for heating and cooling last year. Staffers for the federal program were fired in April.

Industry groups and U.S. Senators are calling for reinstatement of the staffers and continuation of LIHEAP. Their efforts include: testimony by Mark Wolfe, Executive Director, National Energy Assistance Directors Association, before the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education and Related Agencies; a statement by 30 U.S. Senators calling for restoration of LIHEAP; and a letter from the Senators to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The April 9 testimony by Wolfe, the April 11 statement by the Senators, and the April 11 letter to Secretary Kennedy are reprinted here.

Wolfe, Executive Director, National Energy Assistance Directors Association, testified before the House Subcommittee in support of FY 2026 funding for LIHEAP. NEADA represents the State Directors of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Wolfe’s testimony here has been edited slightly for clarity and length:

I appreciate the opportunity to submit testimony before the Subcommittee on the funding requirements for federal fiscal year 2026 (FY26) appropriation for LIHEAP.

LIHEAP is currently in crisis. Last week, the Trump Administration eliminated the Division of Energy Assistance (DEA)—the office within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that oversees LIHEAP—and fired the entire staff. There is $378 million in remaining FY 2025 funding that has not been released to states, and HHS has not released a plan for distributing the funds.
This gutting of federal support could not have come at a worse time for the households served by LIHEAP. One-out-of-six families are currently behind on their home energy bills and the total amount these families owe their utilities is approximately $21 billion, the highest level since 2021 and up by about 30 percent since the end of 2023. In addition, 37.4 percent of families earning less than $50,000 a year reported in a recent Census survey that they were unable to pay an energy bill at least once in the past 12 months.
For FY26, we are requesting at least $4.1 billion for LIHEAP, the same level of total funding approved by Congress in FY25. This will send the message to the Trump Administration that it
may not unilaterally eliminate programs that Congress has funded. $4.1 billion is the minimum amount LIHEAP needs to provide basic support for the families it serves.
However, as temperatures rise, there is an increased need in summer months to help families avoid the effects of extreme heat. The only way for LIHEAP to provide year-round assistance
without cutting critical support for families in the winter is with additional funding. In order to keep up with rising energy costs, rising temperatures, and the increase in extreme weather
events, LIHEAP needs $6 billion in FY26 funding plus $1 billion for the program’s contingency fund, for a total of $7 billion. Contingency funding will allow the Administration to provide
additional targeted resources for extreme weather events or volatility in energy prices.

Energy Prices and Their Impact on Low-Income Households
Energy prices fall hardest on lower-income households. The average energy burden for low-income households is about 8.1 percent of income, almost three times the rate for non-low-
income households (3.1 percent). Of even more concern, the most recent Census Household Pulse Survey, designed to estimate the economic impact of the pandemic on families, found that:
• The percentage of households that could not pay their energy bill for at least one month in the last year increased from 22.0% to 23.4%. The largest increase was in low- and moderate-income households, which increased from 35.5% to 37.4%.
• The percentage of households reporting that they kept their home at unsafe temperatures also increased during the 12-month period, from 22.2% to 22.8%. The largest increase with this
metric was in households of color, from 26.1% to 27.1%.
• More than one out of three households (34%) reduced or forewent basic household expenses at least once during the previous 12 months to pay their home energy bills. The largest
increase was in low- and moderate-income households, from 50.1% to 51.0%.

Price of Home Energy
The average cost of home heating increased by 8.7% this winter, from $866 to $941. Due to higher prices, arrearages remain stubbornly high. NEADA estimates that more than one out of
six households are behind on their energy bills, at 16% (21.5 million) of all U.S. households.
During calendar year 2024, the national arrearage balance increased from $18.6 billion in December 2023 to $20.4 billion in December 2024.
While the cost of winter heating is stabilizing back to pre-pandemic levels, cooling costs continue to increase as summer temperatures break national records. NEADA estimated that the
cost of cooling last summer rose by 7.9% to an average of $719, up from $661 during the summer of 2023. And according to NOAA, this summer is projected to be even hotter than last
year. Extreme heat causes more deaths each year than any other weather event, including floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service. In Maricopa County,
Arizona last year, the County reported 466 heat-related deaths, down from 645 in 2023.

How LIHEAP Helps Families
In 2018, NEADA completed a survey of LIHEAP recipients through the National Energy Assistance Survey. The survey asked recent LIHEAP recipients in seven states selected for
national representation how they fared prior to receiving LIHEAP grants. Of 624 respondents:
• 37 percent closed off part of their home to save utility costs;

• 25 percent kept the temperature inside unsafe or unhealthy;
• 52 percent of households had a disabled member, many of whom rely on electricity for breathing machines or to refrigerate medicines;
• 17 percent had to move in with friends or family and 6 percent went into shelters.
Only 26 percent of LIHEAP respondents reported being unemployed part of a year, yet to try to meet their utility costs:
• 36 percent went without food for at least a day;
• 41 percent went without medical or dental care;
• 31 percent did not fill a prescription or took less than prescribed to stretch the supply.
These responses from LIHEAP recipients underline the agonizing choices faced by low-income households. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that 34 million U.S.
households (27% of all households) had difficulty meeting their energy needs in 2020, with 25 million (20% of all households) foregoing food and medicine to pay for utilities.

LIHEAP’s impact goes beyond providing bill payment assistance by playing a crucial role in maintaining family stability and improving health outcomes for vulnerable populations. It
enables elderly citizens to live independently and ensures that young children have safe, warm homes to live in. Although the circumstances that lead each client to seek LIHEAP assistance are
different, their stories are all connected through the programs’ ability to enable people to cope with difficult circumstances with dignity.

Senators Demand Reinstatement of LIHEAP Workers

This is the statement issued by the group of Senators:

WASHINGTON, April 11 – After President Donald Trump and Elon Musk arbitrarily fired every worker in the office that helps working class families with children and seniors on fixed incomes stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), alongside 30 Senate colleagues, today sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding that the administration reinstate those workers and ensure they can continue administering the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

Joining Sanders on the letter are Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore).

“Last year, LIHEAP provided over 6 million American households with the assistance they needed to heat their homes during extremely cold winters and to keep air conditioners running in the soaring heat. Without this bipartisan program, Americans throughout the country would be forced to make the unacceptable choice between putting food on the table, paying for prescription drugs, or heating their homes in the winter,” Sanders and the senators wrote. “In the richest country in the history of the world, no one should be forced to make that unacceptable decision.”

For almost 45 years, LIHEAP has helped families around the nation with the costs of home energy bills. Rising energy costs have made this assistance even more important for working families, seniors and people with disabilities. According to the Census Bureau, more than 23 percent of households report that they were unable to pay their energy bills in full last year. 

“The administration has a legal and moral obligation to disburse LIHEAP funds to states and to uphold the program’s promise to help families keep the heat and air condition on,” Sanders and the senators continued. “Therefore, we urge you to immediately reinstate all of the LIHEAP staff that were terminated, reopen the Division of Energy Assistance (DEA) that administers this program, and disburse all of the LIHEAP funds that Congress has appropriated. Being able to heat your home in the freezing cold and keep the air condition on in the extreme heat is not a luxury. It is a matter of life and death.”

Here is the text of the letter:

Dear Secretary Kennedy:

We are strongly opposed to your recent decision to terminate the entire staff responsible for administering the highly successful and efficient Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). These arbitrary terminations threaten the continued existence of the only federal program in our country that helps millions of seniors on fixed incomes, families with young children, and people with disabilities stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Last year, LIHEAP provided over 6 million American households with the assistance they needed to heat their homes during extremely cold winters and to keep air conditioners running in the soaring heat.

Without this bipartisan program, Americans throughout the country would be forced to make the unacceptable choice between putting food on the table, paying for prescription drugs, or heating their homes in the winter. In the richest country in the history of the world, no one should be forced to make that unacceptable decision. 

With energy prices and utility bills going up throughout the country, LIHEAP is more important now than ever. Across the United States, more than 23 percent of households report that they were unable to pay their energy bills in full last year.

And the administration’s recent tariffs are expected to raise utility bills even higher. States are still waiting on HHS to release nearly $400 million in Fiscal Year 2025 funding approved by Congress in March to weatherize low-income homes, provide emergency air conditioning assistance and plan for next year’s winter season.2 

By terminating all 23 employees tasked with overseeing LIHEAP, it is now unclear how these funds will be administered. 

In our view, that is unacceptable. The administration has a legal and moral obligation to disburse LIHEAP funds to states and to uphold the program’s promise to help families keep the heat and air condition on. Failure to disburse these funds constitutes an illegal impoundment of bipartisan, congressionally appropriated funds and will put the health and well-being of some of the most vulnerable people in America at risk. 

Therefore, we urge you to immediately reinstate all of the LIHEAP staff that were terminated, reopen the Division of Energy Assistance (DEA) that administers this program, and disburse all of the LIHEAP funds that Congress has appropriated. Being able to heat your home in the freezing cold and keep the air condition on in the extreme heat is not a luxury. It is a matter of life and death. 

Please provide us with a written response to the questions below no later than the next ten days. 

1. Will you reinstate the staff who administer LIHEAP and reopen the office that administers this program? 

2. When will HHS disburse the remaining $378 million that Congress appropriated for the current fiscal year?

3. How many employees of DEA have been fired, put on administrative leave, accepted the deferred resignation program offer, or accepted the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority or Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment offer since January 20, 2025?

a. How many of these employees were responsible for, or assisted in, administering LIHEAP? 

b. How many of these employees worked in regional offices? Please provide information on the number of employees remaining at each regional office. 

c. How many employees responsible for, or assisting in, administering LIHEAP remain in force? 

4. Which officials at HHS were involved in the staffing reduction decisions for DEA and what planning, if any, was undertaken prior to these reductions? Please describe the events that unfolded and name each office that was involved in the decision. Further, please name the official(s) who approved the staffing reductions as well as specifically indicate if any of the below individuals, or direct reports to these individuals, were involved in the decision-making. Name any such direct reports. 

a. Elon Musk, Special Government Employee, DOGE. 

b. Amy Gleason, Acting Administrator, DOGE. 

c. Andrew Gradison, Acting Assistant Secretary, ACF. 

5. Please provide a detailed plan for how HHS plans to staff and oversee LIHEAP, including the plan to oversee states and territories in administering this program going forward and how you will ensure continued execution of its critical mission and also ensure no family loses access to utility assistance. 

a. Please describe how ACF plans to monitor the impact that these dismissals have on LIHEAP and the millions who rely on it.

b. Please provide information on who will review and approve LIHEAP annual plans in a timely manner. 

c. Please provide information on who will carry out statutorily required data collection on LIHEAP. 

Sincerely,

Bernard Sanders

United States Senator

Ranking Member, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions