(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, released the following statement condemning the Trump administration’s move to fire the entire U.S. Department of Health and Human Services workforce responsible for administering the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP):

“Firing everyone responsible for administering a program that helps more than 30,000 Granite Staters afford their utility bills is nothing short of cruel. During the coldest months of the year, LIHEAP is instrumental in helping Americans afford to heat their homes or replace a broken furnace in an emergency. Our state is already bracing for higher energy costs from the Trump administration’s reckless tariffs, and now, one of our best tools to help keep families warm and safe in their homes will be paralyzed.”

New Hampshire has received $29.7 million in LIHEAP funding in Fiscal Year 2025 to date. Last winter, more than a thousand households experienced an energy crisis situation with either no heat or imminent loss of home heating.

Shaheen has championed work to secure federal investments in clean energy and energy efficiency initiatives and to lower energy costs across New Hampshire. Shaheen recently took to the Senate floor to raise her concerns about President Trump’s harmful energy policies. In the Fiscal Year 2024 government funding bills, Shaheen secured $366 million for weatherization efforts and $66 million for the State Energy Program, which work to bring down energy bills for families and communities. Shaheen was a key supporter of the Inflation Reduction Act and a lead negotiator of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, legislation that invest in energy efficiency. In the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Shaheen pushed for increased LIHEAP funding for Granite State families, contributing to the highest total of LIHEAP funding ever received in a 12-month period in New Hampshire history.