April 11, 2025

ICYMI: Warren, Pressley, Massachusetts Delegation Demand RFK Explain Cuts to Affordable Energy Program for Working Families

Eliminating the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program workforce threatens Massachusetts families who already face rising utility costs

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) joined the entire Massachusetts Congressional delegation—Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Representatives Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), , Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), and Bill Keating (D-Mass.)—in writing to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., pressing him to explain the sudden firing of federal staff responsible for administering the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and the impacts to Massachusetts families who depend on the program to stay safe, healthy, and housed.

Massachusetts energy prices have risen two to three times more than the national average over the past decade. This winter alone, rate increases in Massachusetts hit families hard, with some energy bills doubling over the heating season.

“The result is an affordability crisis for families already on the financial edge,” wrote the lawmakers.

Massachusetts has received more than 181,000 requests for heating assistance so far this fiscal year, with more than 110,000 households already served through March 31. First-time applicants have also surged: more than 27,000 Massachusetts households applied for LIHEAP for the first time this fiscal year, 8 percent more than last year at this point. More than 58 percent of households served so far include at least one elderly member, more than 33 percent include individuals with disabilities, more than 6,500 include a veteran or active-duty military member, and more than 11,500 include young children under age five.

Yet on April 1, 2025, as part of a larger purge of federal employees from HHS, the entire LIHEAP staff was let go. According to press reports, approximately 25 HHS employees had been overseeing the program.

“These terminations undercut public confidence. They send a dangerous message that programs serving low-income, elderly, and disabled populations are expendable,” the lawmakers conclude. “When federal staff vanish overnight, without notice, contingency planning, or a clear replacement structure, it undermines decades of trust and partnership. It also forces states into crisis planning mode, when they should be focused on delivering services and preparing for upcoming cooling and heating seasons.”

Senator Warren has long advocated for bringing down energy costs for American families:

  • On February 26, 2025, Senator Warren advocated for S.J. Res. 10 that would end President Trump’s national energy emergency, which is driving up energy costs for New Englanders by cancelling offshore wind projects.

  • On February 20, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) proposed 16 amendments to protect Massachusetts residents from Republican budget cuts, including cuts to offshore wind.

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