NEWS: Sanders, 19 Senators Push to Nearly Double Emergency Home Heating Assistance After Trump’s War with Iran Spikes Costs for Americans

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 — As one in five American families are forced to make unacceptable choices between whether to pay their utility bills, heat their homes, purchase their prescription drugs or put food on the table, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and 19 Democratic senators today urged the Trump administration to drastically increase funding to $7 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). In 2025, LIHEAP helped approximately six million Americans heat their homes over the winter. However, because LIHEAP funding today is lower than it was twenty years ago after adjusting for inflation, four out of every five Americans who are eligible cannot access this crucial assistance. “As the cost of home heating skyrockets across the country due to the illegal and unconstitutional War in Iran, we urge you to request an emergency appropriation of at least $3 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program,” Sanders and the senators wrote. “Without immediate action, senior citizens on fixed incomes, working families with kids, and people with disabilities are at serious risk of going cold this winter. In the richest country in the history of the world, we cannot let that happen.” According to the New York Times, heating oil costs for Americans are up roughly 60% since Israel and the United States started attacking Iran early this year — resulting in families that use heating oil paying an additional $800 and families that use electricity or propane paying an additional $100 this winter. “Emergency LIHEAP assistance is needed now more than ever. Without this vital funding, states will be forced to turn away families, reduce benefits, or exhaust heating assistance funds well before winter is over,” the senators concluded. “Being able to heat your home in the freezing cold is not a luxury. It is a matter of life and death.” In addition to Sanders, Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also signed the letter. Read the letter here .