Trump Zeroed Out Federal Heating Assistance W.Va. Depends On

Twenty state attorneys general have sued to stop cuts to a federal low-income heating assistance program. West Virginia is not among them.

Many West Virginia households struggle with the cost of heating and cooling, and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps 56,000 of them with it.

Last month, though, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services laid off the staff that administers the program, including the $35 million that goes to West Virginia.

President Donald Trump’s Fiscal 2026 budget zeroes out funding for the program.

On Monday, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a complaint in U.S. district court in Rhode Island, naming Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., over the cuts at HHS.

Attorney General J.B. McCuskey’s office said he does not plan to join the lawsuit. McCuskey is suing Vermont and New York over their climate laws.