U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), chair of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, led a bipartisan contingent of her colleagues in urging the Trump administration to quickly release the remaining roughly $400 million of fiscal year 2026 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding to help poorer Americans.
“With low-income families and seniors feeling additional strains on their household budgets, a timely release of LIHEAP funding is even more critical to ensure families do not need to choose between paying their energy bills and other essentials, like food or medicine,” wrote the senators in a March 12 letter sent to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert Kennedy, Jr.
During the previous year in both the winter and summer months, LIHEAP provided nearly six million households nationwide with federal assistance. The most recent funds, made available under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, signed into law on Feb. 3, totaled $4.045 billion for the program in fiscal year 2026.
Much of that funding has been distributed to help struggling families and seniors on fixed incomes, the senators wrote, adding that the remaining funds also should be disbursed.
According to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, households are expected to spend 11 percent more on winter heating costs this winter compared to last year, the lawmakers said.
“Any delay in the release of appropriated funds would set back states’ efforts to cover outstanding bills relating to unexpected delivered fuel emergencies, to weatherize low-income homes, and to plan for summer cooling programs,” wrote the senators. “Our states are ready to deploy these funds to help vulnerable households as soon as they receive them from HHS.”
Among the lawmakers who joined Sen. Collins in signing the bill was U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), who also serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee.