Families Will Die Without LIHEAP. Trump Broke It Anyways.
Phone scripts and emails to demand we not abandon low-income families paying their heating and cooling bills
Contact all members of Congress:
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: Congress.gov
By US mail: Representatives / Senators
By fax: Representatives / Senators
By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Head Start isn’t the only program built to help low-income families that Trump is trying to sabotage to pay for billionaire tax cuts. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has fired the entire staff administering the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and the White House is reportedly considering eliminating it altogether. LIHEAP provides financial support 6.2 million American households count on to help pay their heating and cooling bills, and in 2023 it helped 2.7 million families restore power or prevent disconnections (find state-by-state details here). Right now, almost $400 million in funding is frozen because there’s no one to distribute it.
It's a win for Elon Musk and Trump’s oligarch buddies, but it’s dangerous for working families. LIHEAP was already underfunded, with only 1 in 5 families that meet the eligibility requirements receiving funds, and the need for it is only growing. Our winters are getting colder and our summers are getting hotter due to climate change. One in four Americans were already unable to keep up with their energy bills last year, and we are set to see utilities raise energy prices because of Trump’s tariffs. More people will die because they can’t afford to heat and cool their homes after these cuts – and soon.
Let’s demand our members of Congress take action to protect LIHEAP – opposing all cuts and demand the federal workers needed to run it are immediately reinstated. We can find scripts and language below, or text SIGN PTQTAQ to 50409.
Last updated 4/16/25.
PHONE SCRIPTS
Note you can find numbers for your federal election officials in one place at reps.fyi. And as you are getting responses, please let us know at roganslisttips@gmail.com.
Hi, my name is _________, and I’m a constituent from (city, zip). (If voicemail, leave street address).
I’m calling to demand ________ take action to protect the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. All the funding needs to be released. The federal workers who run the program need to be reinstated. And the idea of eliminating it needs to be a dealbreaker for the next spending bills.
6.2 million Americans and ______ in our state (SEE DATA HERE) count on LIHEAP to be able to heat and cool their homes. Trump and Kennedy killing the program will make basic needs harder to afford – when they’re already deliberately raising prices with their tariffs! It’s completely screwing over low-income families.
[IF YOU OR YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY HAVE BENEFITED FROM LIHEAP, TALK ABOUT WHAT IT MEANT TO YOU HERE]
With LIHEAP gone, working people won’t be able to pay their bills, they’ll get their electricity and gas cut off. And Americans will die from the heat this summer without it. Your office needs to do something.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
EMAIL LANGUAGE
You can either send this message through the standard congressional email system, or send a less individualized version direct to your members of Congress by texting SIGN PTQTAQ to 50409.
Right now there is $400 million in funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, money that is supposed to go to help regular Americans, locked away because Robert F. Kennedy Jr fired everyone who works at the office that sends it out. Now, the White House is considering getting rid of the program altogether. This is completely unacceptable, and your office needs to take action.
6.2 million Americans and ______ in our state (SEE DATA HERE) count on LIHEAP to be able to heat and cool their homes. Trump and Kennedy destroying it will make these very basic needs harder to afford for low-income families, at a time when this administration is already deliberately raising prices with their tariffs. This may be great for the billionaires they are trying to lower taxes for, but it’s a disaster for regular Americans’ budgets.
Maybe the oligarchs don’t understand this, but when the weather gets bad enough being able to run your heater or your air conditioner is life or death. Without LIHEAP, working people will not be able to pay their bills, they will see their electricity and gas cut off, and when the cold snaps or heat waves hit they will kill them.
[IF YOU OR YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY HAVE BENEFITED FROM LIHEAP, TALK ABOUT WHAT IT MEANT TO YOU HERE]
Please do whatever it takes to ensure the federal workers who run LIHEAP are reinstated and the current funding is released. Further, eliminating this program should be a dealbreaker for any future spending bill.
Thank you for your time and consideration.