RFK Jr urged to release nearly $400m allocated to help families combat heat | Trump administration

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), is facing new demands to release almost $400m allocated by Congress to help low-income US families keep the air conditioning on this summer.

The funds are under threat after the staff running a decades old program were fired – as part of the Trump administration’s so-called ‘efficiency’ drive.

States and tribal nations are still waiting for funding allocated by Congress for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) – a chronically underfunded bipartisan program that helped around 6 million households keep on top of energy bills last year.

The money is stuck in limbo after the Trump administration this month eliminated the division of energy assistance (DEA) – the office within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that oversees the four-decade old program – and fired the entire staff.

Pressure is now growing on Kennedy to reinstate the staff and guarantee that the energy aid be distributed to the states – in compliance with the administration’s constitutional obligation to abide with congressional appropriations.

On Tuesday morning, the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA), the organization for state directors of LIHEAP, will send a letter to Kennedy requesting the fired staff be rehired and the funds be released by 1 May – which would give states just 153 days to deploy the money before the end of the fiscal year.

“The release of the remaining appropriated funds that have already been approved by your agency would provide well overdue support for state programs. These funds would be used immediately to help some of the nation’s most vulnerable households maintain access to electric and gas service, to cover outstanding bills relating to unexpected delivered fuel emergencies and to allow states to begin planning their summer cooling programs,” writes Mark Wolfe, an energy economist and NEADA’s executive director, in a letter shared exclusively with the Guardian.

“At a time when so many families are struggling to make ends meet — and tariffs are poised to drive prices even higher — it’s unconscionable to rip away the help that Congress has already offered to people in need… Liheap saves lives in states where summer heat and winter cold can be deadly,” the letter continues.

An estimated one in six households are behind on their energy bills, according to NEADA, which means millions of families could be at risk of utilities shutting off power in what’s expected to be another record-breaking hot summer.

LIHEAP is a key part of the already underfunded US social safety net which also includes Head Start, food stamps and other income support programs under attack by the Trump administration.

Amid a protracted cost of living crisis, one in four households were unable to keep up with energy bills last year, according to the Census Bureau.

LIHEAP was allocated $4.1bn in fiscal year 2024, which Congress continued funding at that level for 2025. Around 90% of the funds have already been released to the states but about 10% remains, which cannot be released until HHS determines the state-by-state allocation.

The fired federal LIHEAP employees are essential to operations. They run the allocation formula, conduct audits and track the funds to make sure recipient states, tribes and territories receive their fair share of the money in tranches. The entire federal LIHEAP team consisted of only 25 staff, without whom the funds cannot be distributed.

LIHEAP has broad political and industry support – helping families across the US keep up with energy bills while saving lives in places where winter freezes and summer heatwaves can be deadly.

In the northern cold states, LIHEAP helped keep the heat on for more than 43,000 households in Michigan and 26,000 Vermonters. But in the short-term it is mostly southern states where residents are most likely to suffer first, especially as deadly heat waves increase due to global heating.

In Arizona, just over 37,000 residents qualified for LIHEAP assistance last year. In Phoenix, US’s hottest major city, residents endured a record 113 consecutive days at or over 100F. Even with LIHEAP, almost one in four heat deaths in Maricopa county, where Phoenix is located, happened indoors. A significant proportion did not have electricity and/or a functioning air conditioning unit.

“The rapid change and uncertainty in the federal government office operations could challenge our ability to operate a program that functions efficiently and effectively for Arizonans. With the extreme heat during the summer months soon to arrive, certainty and reliability are more important than ever,” said a spokesperson for the Arizona department of economic security.

In a normal year, the states would have already received notice from HHS about when the remaining funds would be distributed, allowing them to prepare for the summer season. Arizona is still waiting for $3.3m, Florida for almost $12m and Texas for $20m.

Lawmakers across the country are demanding Kennedy intervene.

On Monday, the Massachusetts congressional delegation led by senator Edward Markey wrote to Kennedy demanding answers on how the HHS planned to ensure states and residents continued to receive LIHEAP assistance – this year and going forward.

“Although Liheap is structured as a block grant administered primarily by states, federal staff provide essential technical assistance. This is not red tape, it is essential governance,” the lawmakers wrote on Monday, requesting a response from Kennedy by 1 May.

Over the past decade, Massachusetts energy prices have risen two to three times more than the national average, with bills doubling this past winter due to rate hikes. Massachusetts has received more than 181,000 requests for heating assistance so far this fiscal year, with first-time applicants up 8% on last year. Almost 60% of households served so far include at least one elderly member, while a third include individuals with disabilities. The state is waiting for around $13m.

On Friday, Vermont’s senator, Bernie Sanders, chair of the Senate health committee, and 30 other senators wrote to Kennedy demanding the LIHEAP staff be rehired immediately.

“Without this bipartisan program, Americans throughout the country would be forced to make the unacceptable choice between putting food on the table, paying for prescription drugs, or heating their homes in the winter. In the richest country in the history of the world, no one should be forced to make that unacceptable decision.”

Kennedy has previously said that some HHS cuts had been made in error and would be rescinded.

One in four low-income households already spend more than 14% of their income on energy bills – which is more than 4.5 times the average energy burden.

Energy debt and potentially life threatening shutoffs during extreme cold and hot days will increase without LIHEAP and unless states take steps to increase bill assistance and adopt comprehensive emergency moratoriums on utility disconnections to protect vulnerable residents, according to Sanya Carley, presidential distinguished professor at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at University of Pennsylvania.

“Long term, a lack of staff to oversee the allocation of LIHEAP funds could severely compromise the program’s existence,” said Carley, who also co-directs the university’s energy justice lab.

In order to account for rising temperatures caused by the climate crisis and the impact of tariffs, an estimated $7bn is needed for LIHEAP in 2026, according to Wolfe, who is also co-director of the Center on Energy Policy and Poverty. “If the administration doesn’t continue LIHEAP, the lives of poor people will get much harder. We’ll be going down a very bad road.”

HHS has been contacted for comment.