A Miami-based non-profit group is calling out the Trump administration for laying off the entire staff of a $4.1 billion program that helps millions of low-income households pay electricity and gas bills, warning the "most vulnerable" South Florida families may not get help to cool their homes.
"This decades-long federal initiative that has been operating since the 1980s is a lifeline for millions of vulnerable families across the United States," said the CLEO Institute in a statement released Monday following defunding of the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP. The group combats climate change.
They said 140,000 households in Florida last year received about $117 million in federal funding to help "the state's most vulnerable families keep cool during extreme heat."
"Without this continued federal funding, states may or may not sustain these programs, risking severe cuts — or even the complete elimination," they warned.
"The termination of LIHEAP is a devastating blow to our most vulnerable communities," said Yoca Arditi-Rocha, CEO of The CLEO Institute. "In places like Florida, access to energy should not be a luxury; it must be a basic human right."
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Without the financial assistance, said Arditi-Rocha, "countless families will be forced to make impossible choices between cooling their homes and other essential needs."
The CLEO Institute, citing an Associated Press analysis of CDC data said heat-related deaths are the leading cause of death for weather-related events. The report found that a record number of people in the U.S. in 2023 died from extreme heat.
Roughly two dozen workers who ran the national were among 10,000 people fired late last month as part of a dramatic restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association.
He said several senior employees who oversee the program, which serves about 6.2 million households annually, told him they were locked out of their building after arriving to work Monday, March 31.
"The way they did it, there was no like warning," he said.
More than a dozen U.S. senators, including two Republicans, sent a letter to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urging the administration to reverse its decision to cut the LIHEAP staff. They warned the terminations will undermine the agency's ability to provide a "crucial lifeline" for low-income seniors and families.
The program had already delivered the bulk of its aid to the states for this fiscal year but had yet to distribute $378 million.
It also helps households pay for the cost of air conditioning during sweltering summer months.
When asked about the fate of LIHEAP and the outstanding payments, Emily Hilliard, deputy press secretary for HHS, said in a statement: "HHS will continue to comply with statutory requirements, and as a result of the reorganization, will be better positioned to execute on Congress's statutory intent."
Speaking about the broader overhaul of his agency, Kennedy has said it needs to be "recalibrated."
Without any staff in place, states are questioning how and if they will get the rest of their money, especially for upcoming summer cooling programs.
"Will we receive our remaining funds? If we don't, some states will not run their cooling programs this summer. They'll scale them back," Wolfe said.
Eligibility can differ by state, as well as the specific services provided. In general, the program assists families in covering utility bills or the cost of paying for home heating oil. It has received bipartisan congressional support for decades.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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