WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Millions of poor and disadvantaged Americans could face trouble accessing funds for home heating starting next month due to the government shutdown, lawmakers from both parties and nonprofit groups said on Wednesday. The shutdown, now in its 29th day, is preventing states from receiving about $3.6 billion under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The funds help families pay winter heating and summer cooling bills, with about 80% used in the winter months. States typically receive their allocations in late October or November, and the funds are distributed to households in November and December. U.S. Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican from Pennsylvania, called on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to ensure uninterrupted LIHEAP funding during the shutdown. "No household should have to choose between keeping their homes safe temperatures, basic healthcare, or having food on the table," Fitzpatrick said in a letter to Kennedy. He called on HHS to use every available authority and mechanism to maintain LIHEAP operations without interruption and to communicate with states and providers to prevent service gaps that would endanger communities. The administration of President Donald Trump fired LIHEAP staff in April as part of wider cutbacks in the federal government, which also raised concerns about getting funds to states. Emily Hilliard, press secretary at HHS, blamed Democrats for the shutdown and said once the government reopens the Administration for Children and Families, a division of HHS, "will work swiftly to administer annual awards." Democratic Representative Madeleine Dean, also of Pennsylvania, called the situation "unacceptable" on X. "While the most vulnerable among us pay the price for this shutdown, Republicans seem uninterested in ending it," Dean posted. Mark Wolfe, the executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, said any delays in funding would be difficult for vulnerable Americans, 42 million of whom are also set to lose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food aid, which is set to lapse on Saturday. "If the shutdown continues, the lives of low-income families, the lives of poor families, in the United States will just become much harder," Wolfe said in an interview. "A $500 grant for energy assistance might not sound like a lot to a middle-income family, but for a low-income family, that's what allows them to buy heating oil to get the furnace started." (Reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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