Poor Families Face Freezing Risks As Trump Admin's Budget Eliminates 'Vital' Program Keeping Them Warm in the Winter

The Trump administration's 2026 budget request cuts funding for an essential assistance program which helps poor families stay warm during the winter months.

The administration's proposed cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services include cutting funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a federal block grant program which assists millions of low-income households with paying energy bills, reported the Huffington Post.

Many of the households that depend on LIHEAP include children, disabled people and seniors. Over 6 million households are actively dependent on LIHEAP for household temperature regulation year round.

"Savings come from eliminating radical diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory programs, which weaponized large swaths of the Federal Government against the American people and moving programs that are better suited for States and localities to provide," reads the HHS budget brief, which then proceeds to state that LIHEAP funding should be decreased.

The administration has already severely impaired the program by putting its entire staff on administrative leave from April 1 through June 2, after which it stated that they would be terminated along with thousands of other federal employees. However, in-progress lawsuits launched in May by a coalition of 20 state attorney generals declared this move unlawful, and asked for the reinstatement of these federal employees.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) made a direct plea to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., reiterating how "vital" LIHEAP is to his constituents.

"The program supports our most vulnerable populations, including seniors, individuals with disabilities, and households with young children under the age of six," Lawler wrote in a letter to Kennedy. "In FY 2023, 24% of New Yorkers reported being unable to pay their energy bill at least once in a 12-month period. During FY 2023, LIHEAP also helped prevent over 100,000 utility disconnections in New York alone, highlighting this program's critical need."

Furthermore, Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski wrote a joint bipartisan letter in defense of LIHEAP.

"We write regarding reports that you have terminated staff responsible for administering the Low-Income Home Energy Program," reads their letter, signed by 13 senators. "If true, these terminations threaten to devastate a critical program dedicated to helping Americans afford their home energy bills.

"It is an indispensable lifeline, helping to ensure that recipients do not have to choose between paying their energy bills and affording other necessities like food and medicine," said the senators.