WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, this week spoke on the Senate floor and urged the Trump Administration to release $4 billion in federal funds for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) that has yet to be distributed this year. In his remarks, Senator Welch emphasized how LIHEAP funding helps more than 6 million lower-income households and seniors—including 26,000 Vermonters—heat their homes during the cold winter months.
“We are in the cold weather season, and getting money out after the cold weather season does not help keep people warm. LIHEAP funding enjoys broad support, and that’s because—in your state and in mine—folks in the winter who are on the margins financially, literally, can’t get by unless they have access to this funding. So here we are; the heating season is upon us and the LIHEAP funding is stuck and not being distributed. This is an absolute responsibility of the Trump Administration and there is no excuse for withholding the funding,” said Senator Welch. “This is the call to the Trump Administration: do your job. Secretary Kennedy has a legal responsibility to disburse the current LIHEAP funding. It’s illegal for him to withhold those funds, as well as pretty cruel.”
Watch Senator Welch’s full remarks below:
States and tribes typically receive LIHEAP allocations from HHS by early November. Eligibility for LIHEAP is based on income, family size, and the availability of resources. While eligibility varies by state, most applicants must have a household income below 150% of the federal poverty guideline or 60% of the state median income. While the Trump Administration has proposed eliminating LIHEAP, including zeroing out funds in its Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget plan, the Senate’s funding bill for 2026 would provide a $20 million increase for LIHEAP.
Last week, Senator Welch joined 30 bipartisan Senate colleagues in calling on Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to release LIHEAP funds as swiftly and at the highest level possible. The Senator also recently grilled a Trump Administration nominee about the Administration’s actions to undermine the program and partnered with the Vermont Congressional Delegation in pushing back on the President’s proposal to eliminate LIHEAP funding entirely.
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