The American Public Power Association and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association on April 10 sent a letter to Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in support of continued implementation of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program by the Department of Health and Human Services.
On April 1, most HHS staff, including those that administer the LIHEAP program, were placed on administrative leave through June 2 via a reduction in force directive from the administration, after which they will be terminated.
APPA noted that staff terminations at HHS are unlikely to have an immediate impact on local programs for which the majority of the 2025 appropriation have been released. However, it may eliminate any chance that the final 10 percent of Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations -- roughly $394 million -- will be released with no one in the office to release them. If the offices remain closed, this will interfere with the disbursement of funds at the beginning of the new fiscal year in October.
In their letter, APPA and NRECA said the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee should “focus attention on continued efficient and effective implementation of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). LIHEAP provides critical home heating and cooling assistance to millions of vulnerable American families.”
Cuts to LIHEAP “will impact those Americans who are least able to afford interruptions in energy services. We support efforts to improve efficiency within the federal government, especially if it means that more appropriated dollars will be available for energy assistance. But we urge your rigorous oversight of HHS to ensure that the recent elimination of staff from the energy assistance division does not mean that LIHEAP comes to a halt,” the letter said.
“HHS must fulfill its statutory obligations to administer the LIHEAP program,” the letter said.
In the short term, “that means HHS must release the remaining appropriated dollars for Fiscal Year 2025 of approximately $400 million to the states. Time is of the essence for those states that provide cooling assistance as we are quickly entering the warmer summer months,” the groups said.
“Failure to release these funds in a timely way will mean that life-saving assistance dollars will sit at the U.S. Treasury rather than keeping service flowing uninterrupted to Americans in need.”
