Trump Cuts Put Free Air Conditioners At Risk as Summer Nears

Applications for LIHEAP, a federal program that helps low-income New Yorkers stay cool in the summer, just went live. But advocates say the initiative’s future is at risk after the Trump administration fired the entire staff that runs it.

As New Yorkers embrace sunnier weather, those who rely on the federally funded Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to buy air conditioners fear their days of receiving the benefit may be numbered. 

HEAP, as it is often known in New York, is the only program that provides free air conditioners to New Yorkers. Applications to receive cooling assistance went live Tuesday and can be filled out on the NYC.gov website. 

But earlier this month the Trump administration decided to terminate the entire staff of the Department of Health and Human Services office that runs the initiative, sparking fear about the program’s ability to function.

“The fact that they got rid of all the staff who are responsible for releasing the funds and working with the states makes everyone nervous about what that means for the future of the program,” said Laurie Wheelock, executive director at the nonprofit Public Utility Law Project, which helps people across the state access the program.

The more than two dozen LIHEAP employees who lost their jobs are part of a larger wave of approximately 10,000 workers who were laid off in what administration officials have called a bid to reorganize the agency and cut costs. 

The generalized chaos that comes with the layoffs could render initiatives like HEAP useless without the government actually having to terminate them, said Kevin Kiprovsk, director of policy at the nonprofit LiveOn NY, which helps elderly adults access benefits in the Empire State.

“The state might be less engaged in investing in it if the feds aren’t going to give them money. And the city might be less engaged in processing applications if they don’t know whether the state’s going to give them money either,” Kiprovski explained.

“It’s a trickle-down effect that breaks a program and breaks the back of public service,” he added.

(Hochul’s office declined to comment on how the state would respond to a cutoff of federal dollars.)

‘A critical lifeline’

Across the state, low-income families rely on HEAP to make it through the hottest and coldest months of the year. The program not only provides cooling assistance during the summer, it helps subsidize energy bills when cranking up the heat in winter becomes too costly.

Approximately 1 in 7 households in New York state were two months or more behind on their energy bills as of September of last year, according to an analysis by the Alliance for a Green Economy. More than 1.2 million New York families are collectively in debt more than $1.3 billion dollars to utilities.

“This is a critical lifeline for so many poor and working people across the country, and it’s a lifeline that is especially useful in moments of real crisis with life and death consequences,” said Tara Raghuveer, director of the Tenant Union Federation, a national federation of tenants’ unions.

The state’s HEAP program has its own emergency program that helps residents when they are at risk of getting their utilities shut off by providing a grant to keep their service going.

“People can die under extreme cold conditions, and having access to funds that secure heat in the coldest winter months is really critical,” Raghuveer added.

And keeping people cool in the summer could be just as critical.

Heat-related incidents cause the premature death of an estimated 580 New Yorkers each summer, according to an annual report by the city’s health department. And Black New Yorkers are twice as likely to die from heat stress — deaths caused directly by heat — as white New Yorkers.

Through the program, low-income residents can purchase and install a fan or air conditioner at a cost of up to $1,000 for a wall unit. To qualify, an applicant must meet the program’s income thresholds, which vary by household size. And at least one member of the household must suffer from a medical condition aggravated by extreme heat.

The benefit is especially important for the elderly, as nearly 1 in 8 older New Yorkers now lives in poverty, according to a recent report by the Center for an Urban Future. 

One 86-year-old client at LivOn NY had to move into a small attic in her daughter’s family’s home, because she couldn’t get by on her $1,500 in monthly Social Security payments. Not wanting to burden her daughter financially, she at first refused to get an air conditioner, but when she started having kidney problems, LIHEAP stepped in to cover the cost.

“She needed an air conditioner to basically stay alive,” said Kim Lerner, director of LivOn NY’s benefits outreach program.

But now that the program is on shaky ground, it’s unclear if there will be enough funding to keep Lerner’s elderly clients cool this summer. 

New York state has received 90 percent of the federal dollars it was allocated for 2025, according to the state agency that operates it, the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA). The other 10 percent has not yet been released to states by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

OTDA did not provide details on what services New York’s remaining 10 percent is intended to cover. HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Still, free air conditioners for this season could run out sooner rather than later. Applications to receive assistance are handed out on a first-come-first-served basis and last until funds run out, which the governor’s office has said will likely be June. 

“This assistance is crucial for at-risk New Yorkers, and I encourage those who may be eligible to apply as soon as possible so they can stay cool in their home when the worst of the weather hits,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a press release this week.

Other New York officials agree that it’s imperative that the program stay afloat. OTDA called the program “vital” to “hundreds of thousands of low-and middle-income households, families with young children, and older adults.”

The agency added: “We are counting on our federal elected officials to ensure this successful program continues to be funded and that New Yorkers are able to access the help they need.”