Millions of Americans face having to ration heating this winter as the US federal government shutdown and mass layoffs by the Trump administration cause unprecedented delays in getting energy assistance aid to low-income households, a group that helps people pay energy bills has warned.
Congress approved about $4bn for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (Liheap), after Trump’s proposal to cancel the life-saving heating and cooling scheme in this year’s budget was ultimately unsuccessful.
Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day back in office, pledging to ramp up fossil-fuel production and slash regulations to bring consumer energy bills down.
About 21m households – one in six – are currently behind on their energy bills.
A health department spokesperson said in a statement: “The Democrat-led shutdown is preventing states from receiving new funds under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
As the Trump administration’s mass layoffs and the US federal government shutdown create historic delays in providing energy assistance aid to low-income households, a group that assists people in paying their energy bills has warned that millions of Americans may have to ration their heating this winter.
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (Liheap) received approximately $4 billion from Congress after Trump’s attempt to eliminate the life-saving heating and cooling program in this year’s budget ultimately failed.
However, as winter draws near, lawmakers have not been able to come to an agreement on funding, and appropriations are still stalled. This could leave the most vulnerable families without vital energy assistance as gas and electricity costs rise.
According to Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA), which advocates for the state directors of Liheap, “no family should have to choose between food and heat due to a federal funding delay.”.
“People will suffer and there will be actual harm if the funds are not released quickly. “.”.
Liheap, a bipartisan program that has historically received insufficient funding, assisted nearly 6 million households in managing their energy bills last year. Prior to the current turmoil, only 17% of those eligible for assistance received it.
Because of the program’s seasonality, past administrations have generally permitted the distribution of 90% of the Liheap funds by the end of October, even as lawmakers struggled with the yearly appropriations bill.
This year is different because of Doge, Trump’s “department of government efficiency.”.
States and tribes would likely not receive the funds until early December at the latest because of severe staff shortages, even if the continuing resolution—also known as a short-term spending fix—were to be agreed upon this week.
The entire staff of the long-running bipartisan program was let go earlier this year as part of the Trump administration’s purported “efficiency” drive, which was directed by Elon Musk, a billionaire Republican donor.
As a result, there was no technical staff available to approve states’ plans for allocating the funds to households or apply the funding formula, which establishes how much each state and tribe receives. According to information obtained by The Guardian, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had been employing paid outside consultants and employees from other programs, some of whom had been let go earlier this month.
Until the federal chaos is resolved and Liheap funds are released, the NEADA is advising utilities to immediately suspend disconnections for past-due bills, as there is no indication that the government shutdown will end anytime soon.
“It is imperative that utilities act in the public interest by delaying shutoffs until federal aid becomes available once more,” Wolfe stated.
Just in the first eight months of this year, 111,000 households were disconnected by New York’s monopoly energy provider. An examination of utility-reported data indicates that the national total is anticipated to reach 4 million shutoffs in 2025, up from 3 million in 2023.
Trump promised to increase fossil fuel production and reduce regulations to lower consumer energy bills when he declared a national energy emergency on his first day back in office.
Ten states plus the District of Columbia have seen increases in electricity bills of more than 15% in the last year, with the largest increases occurring in Illinois (28 percent), Indiana (25 percent), and Ohio (23 percent), the home state of JD Vance. The primary causes of the price increase are utilities charging customers for transmission and distribution system investments, the soaring cost of fossil fuels, and the unchecked expansion of datacenters, which is driving up demand for electricity.
The cost of home heating is predicted to increase by an average of 7.6 percent this winter, from $907 last winter to an estimated $976 this year, according to NEADA research.
Approximately one in six households, or 21 million households, are currently behind on their energy bills. Household energy arrears increased from $17.5 billion in December 2023 to $23 billion in June 2025, a more than 30% increase.
“States are not receiving new funds under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) because of the Democrat-led shutdown,” a health department spokesperson said in a statement. The goal of the Trump Administration is to allow the American people to once again access the government. “.”.
