As part of a reorganization of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Trump administration has removed the federal staff who administer the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP.
Tens of thousands of Mainers rely on the program to help heat their homes each winter. And while state officials say it's business as usual for the remaining days of this year's home heating season, some fear the cuts signal trouble ahead for federal home heating assistance.
Maine Housing Director Dan Brennan said the agency learned Tuesday that the federal staff who administer the $4 billion LIHEAP program had been let go. The cuts appear to be part of broader effort by HHS to reduce its workforce by another 10,000, he said.
"I don't know what the intentions of the administration are," Brennan told reporters Wednesday. "I do know that this provides really critical and cooling assistance nationwide to the poorest in our society."
When asked to confirm the LIHEAP staffing cuts, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said, "HHS will continue to comply with statutorily requirements, and as a result of the reorganization, will be better positioned to execute on Congress’s statutory intent."
Maine typically receives roughly $40 million a year to provide home heating assistance to eligible households. Congress appropriates the funds, and federal LIHEAP staff ensure the money is available for MaineHousing to draw from, Brennan said.
In turn, community action agencies around the state process applications for heating assistance from eligible households, some 52,000 in Maine each year.
The program is considered a critical lifeline for older Mainers and people on fixed incomes — and since the pandemic, a growing number of households struggling with the rising energy costs, said Jason Parent, CEO and executive director for the Aroostook County Action Program.
ACAP is on track to process about 7,500 applications for heating assistance this year.
"I'm trying to sort of take a breath and a step back and understand as we look at the history of community action and things that have happened in the past," said Parent, who noted that federal community services programs have experienced cuts before.
He said he's hopeful that a reorganization might find efficiencies in the home heating program, benefits that may ultimately trickle down to households that rely on assistance the most.
"I need to know more," Parent said. "I think we all need to know more. I think that the measures of removing staff who administer this program with no announced plan is really what's causing what I would say is causing anxiety and concern up and down the state and across the country."
Despite the uncertainty, Brennan said Maine has all funding for actual heating assistance benefits for the rest of this season in hand.
As the agency announced in mid-March, people who applied before March 28 will have heating assistance benefits processed; those who apply after that date will join a waiting list.
Brennan said the state is still waiting for the remaining 10% of Maine's LIHEAP grant for the year — roughly $4 million that helps to administer the program — to be released.
"But now we turn to Washington to ask for when that 10% will come out, and who will send it to us," he said.
Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree said all four members of Maine's congressional delegation have typically been united in their support for LIHEAP. She said she hopes that bipartisan support will ensure the program will continue.
"I think there will be very broad support for funding it in the next budget," Pingree said Wednesday. "But with this particular president and the way they're making the cuts, we have no idea whether this will be covered, or whether this is something they're putting on the chopping block and they've just started by getting rid of the staff who administer the program."
A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Angus King, said the independent is still learning more about the HHS staffing changes and their impacts on Maine.
Democrat Rep. Jared Golden of Maine's second congressional district is doing the same, a spokesperson said.
"Congressman Golden is a proponent of LIHEAP, for all it has done to help Mainers stay warm and safe," the spokesperson said. "He is going to work to make sure remaining heating assistance funds are released and to use whatever powers he can as a member of Congress to protect the future of this program."
A spokesperson for Republican Sen. Susan Collins also pointed to her long-time advocacy of LIHEAP.
"It is unclear how, and if, the administration of this program will be affected by the HHS staffing changes," Collins' spokesperson said.
