Smith aiming for return of LHEAP-related staff

U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) is part of a bipartisan push to reverse course on DOGE’s push to fire all staff that administer the Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps families pay utility bills when they need help making ends meet through Minnesota’s Energy Assistance Program. 

The administration has released 90 percent of those federal funds to state partners, but the remaining 10 percent, almost $400 million, is in limbo without staff to administer the funding to states.

Said Smith in a press release: "Minnesota still hasn’t received all the federal funding it was promised to make sure everyone who is eligible for this assistance can receive it, and we know there are more than 10,000 Minnesotans waiting for this last chunk of funding. People will be left in limbo unless this Administration listens and reinstates these workers. I want answers. I fought for this funding for a reason, and I’m not just going to sit and watch it get ripped away from Minnesotans.”

Smith has long been a champion of the LIHEAP program. She, along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, secured $112 million for Minnesota last year, an increase from years prior.

Smith