Wyden, Merkley Demand Trump Administration Release Energy Bill Assistance for Low-Income Americans

Wyden, Merkley Demand Trump Administration Release Energy Bill Assistance for Low-Income Americans

Key federal heating assistance program targeted for budget, staffing cuts by Trump administration as energy costs soar

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today said they joined Senate colleagues in urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to release all available funds for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) ahead of the November 1, 2026 deadline as cold weather sets in.

LIHEAP is a lifeline that provides financial assistance to low-income homeowners and renters to help cover the cost of energy bills. This program is more important than ever as energy costs continue to skyrocket under Trump's war in Iran, and cancellation of new wind and solar energy projects.

Donald Trump has repeatedly tried to undermine LIHEAP. Last year, he fired the federal employees overseeing the program. The previous two years, Trump's budget has zeroed out funding for the program entirely. Earlier this year, legislators appropriated roughly $4 billion in federal LIHEAP funds available for the coming year that must be released no later than November 1, 2026.

"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 wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr.

Nationwide, an estimated 6 million households received assistance with heating and cooling costs through LIHEAP over the last year, and more households may need heating assistance this winter as temperatures drop while the cost of oil, gas, propane, and other residential fuels rise. Heating oil costs are projected to soar by 31.3 percent this winter, the largest increase among the major heating fuels. Overall, the average U.S. household is projected to spend an average of $1,030 to heat their homes this winter, an 8.7 percent increase over last year.

The letter was led by U.S. Senators Jack Reed, D-R.I., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Angela D. Alsobrooks, D-Md., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Chris Coons, D-Del. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Mark Warner, D-Va., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Peter Welch, D-Vt., Angus S. King, Jr., I-Maine, Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-N.M., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Gary Peters, D-Mich., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del.

The full text of the letter is here.