President Obama is proposing to cut several billion dollars from the government’s energy assistance fund for poor people, the National Journal reports.
If approved by Congress, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP would see funding drop by about $2.5 billion from an authorized 2009 total of $5.1 billion.
But some in Obama’s own party, like Senator John Kerry (D-Mass), are pushing back. Kerry in a letter to Obama wrote, “We simply cannot afford to cut LIHEAP funding during one of the most brutal winters in history. Families across Massachusetts, and the county, depend on these monies to heat their homes and survive the season.”
