As Home-Heating Season Approaches, Shaheen Urges Trump Administration to Swiftly Release LIHEAP Funding

(Washington, DC) – With diesel prices at historic highs due to the President’s war with Iran and winter approaching, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, joined a bipartisan group of her Senate colleagues in a letter urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to release funds for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which more than 57,000 Granite Staters rely on to help pay their home heating bills, as swiftly and at the highest level possible. The Senators wrote, in part: “As you know, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act for Fiscal Year 2027 (P.L. 119-103) requires the Department of Health and Human Services to distribute no less than 90 percent of its total LIHEAP allotment by November 1, 2026. Given the extraordinary pressure consumers will face this winter, we ask that you make this distribution well before the deadline.” The Senators concluded: “ October marks the start of the heating season for many states, and with temperatures already dropping, low-income families and seniors are feeling additional strains on their household budgets. As the main federal program benefiting these individuals with their energy bills, LIHEAP provides critical assistance to vulnerable families and seniors during the cold winter and hot summer months. State agencies and tribes are already activating their LIHEAP programs for the coming winter. A quick release of funding will ensure no gaps in assistance” The full text of the letter can be found HERE. The letter was led by U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and in addition to Shaheen, was signed by Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senators Angela D. Alsobrooks (D-MD), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Chris Coons (D-DE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mark Warner (D-VA), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Angus S. King, Jr. (I-ME), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NM), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Gary Peters (D-MI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) and Ron Wyden (D-OR). Congress has long worked on a bipartisan basis to make federal LIHEAP funds available to ensure eligible homeowners and renters have the financial support they need to heat their homes. This funding is critical as energy and gas prices continue to soar due to the President’s reckless war in Iran. LIHEAP is a federally funded program that helps low-income households pay utility bills, address energy crises and lower costs by improving home energy efficiency through weatherization. Over the last year, nearly six million households nationwide received LIHEAP assistance to help them avoid utility shut-offs or having to make impossible tradeoffs such as delaying medical care, skipping meals or turning to high-cost payday loans that lead to a cycle of unending debt. At a time when Americans are struggling under the weight of historically high diesel and heating oil prices, Shaheen has led the charge in Washington to protect federal programs like LIHEAP that help Granite Staters afford their energy bills and make energy efficiency updates that save money. Earlier this year, Senator Shaheen introduced bipartisan legislation that would ensure grant funding from the Weatherization Assistance Program and State Energy program is distributed without delay to state agencies and local partners that implement these cost-saving energy initiatives. Last year, Shaheen joined efforts to ensure the Administration released the majority of FY 2026 LIHEAP funding, helping provide critical assistance to families during New Hampshire winters. Shaheen has also previously condemned efforts by the Trump Administration to eliminate staff responsible for administering the LIHEAP program. ###