After Pressure From Senator Gillibrand, Trump Administration To Release Energy Assistance Funding

After Pressure From Senator Gillibrand, Trump Administration To Release Energy Assistance Funding

Apr 23, 2026

The announcement comes as relief for working families across New York and the country who are facing sticker shock from their eye-popping gas and utility bills.

NY will receive an additional $40.3 million in federal funding to help them afford home energy bills.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has successfully pushed the Trump administration to release over $400 million to help New York families afford their energy bills.

The announcement comes as relief for working families across New York and the country who are facing sticker shock from their eye-popping gas and utility bills. According to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, roughly 1 out of 6 U.S. households (21.5 million nationwide) are behind on their energy bills in 2026.

Earlier this month, Senator Gillibrand and a bipartisan group of senators demanded that the Trump administration release over $400 million in remaining Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding that Congress delivered in fiscal year (FY) 2026.

Following this pressure from Senator Gillibrand, New York will receive an additional $40,356,315 in LIHEAP funds to go along with the more than $360 million in federal funding that the state previously received. As a result, New York will net a total of $401.2 million in LIHEAP aid this year to help New Yorkers afford their home utility bills. This means a $20 million increase over the previous year.

"LIHEAP is a commonsense, bipartisan program," said Senator Gillibrand. "In the coldest and hottest months of the year, it lowers the cost of living and saves lives. President Trump is already causing fuel and gas prices to skyrocket due to his reckless choice to start a war in Iran. He continued to make life harder for working Americans by stalling hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding that Congress already allocated to LIHEAP from reaching families in need. Finally releasing these funds is a welcome step, and I will continue pushing back on the administration's recent budget proposal that eliminates LIHEAP in order to fund an unauthorized war of choice."

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 - including about 1.5 million in New York - received LIHEAP assistance to help them lead a healthier, more stable life and avoid having their utilities shutoff or having to make tradeoffs such as skipping medical care or meals or turning to unfair payday loans that lead to a cycle of unending debt.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration released a $2.2 trillion Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposal that would completely eliminate all LIHEAP funding and slash ten percent of other domestic programs across the board while increasing defense spending. And last year, the Trump administration fired the entire LIHEAP program staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

In addition to Gillibrand, the April 15 letter was signed by U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Charles E. Grassley (R-IA), Angus S. King, Jr. (I-ME), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mark Warner (D-VA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Chris Coons (D-DE), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Angela D. Alsobrooks (D-MD), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NM), Ron Wyden (D-OR) Adam Schiff (D-CA), Peter Welch, Richard Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mark Kelly (D-AZ) Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).

The text of the letter can be found here.

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