Due to the shutdown, Americans are at risk of losing millions in heating assistance.

The government shutdown could make it difficult for millions of Americans to access funds for heating their homes as early as next month, according to lawmakers and nonprofit organizations from both parties.

In its 29th day of the shutdown, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is blocking the states from receiving $3.6 billion in the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides financial assistance to low-income households. The funds are used to pay for winter heating bills and summer cooling costs. About 80% of the funds is spent in winter.

States receive their allocations typically in late October or early November. The funds are then distributed to households between November and December.

U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (a Republican from Pennsylvania) called on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Health Secretary, to ensure that LIHEAP funding would continue during the shutdown.

Fitzpatrick wrote to Kennedy that "no household should be forced to choose between maintaining a safe temperature in their home, receiving basic healthcare or having food to eat."

He asked HHS to utilize all available authorities and mechanisms to ensure that LIHEAP is maintained without interruption, and to communicate with the states and providers in order to avoid service gaps which would be dangerous to communities.

In April, the administration of President Donald Trump terminated LIHEAP employees as part of broader federal budget cuts that also raised concerns over getting funds to States.

Emily Hilliard (press secretary for HHS) blamed Democrats for shutting down the government and said that once the government is reopened, the Administration for Children and Families - a division within HHS - "will work quickly to administer the annual awards."

Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, a Democrat, referred to the situation as "inacceptable" in X. Dean wrote: "While those most vulnerable pay the price of this shutdown, Republicans appear uninterested in ending the situation."

Mark Wolfe is the Executive Director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. He said that any delay in funding would be difficult on the vulnerable Americans. 42 million Americans are also due to lose food aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program, which expires this Saturday.

Wolfe, speaking in an interview, said that if the shutdown continues the lives and poverty of families in the United States would be made much more difficult.

"A $500 grant may not seem like much to a family with a middle income, but it's the only way a family on a lower income can afford to purchase heating oil and get their furnace going." (Reporting from Timothy Gardner in Washington, and Nichola in Los Angeles. Editing by Bill Berkrot.)

(source: Reuters)