Senate Appropriations Committee Proposes $4B LIHEAP Funding Package

Last week, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee continued to advance individual FY 2026 funding bills, potentially teeing up Senate floor action on a “minibus” appropriations package before the September 30 federal funding deadline. On July 31, Senate Appropriators approved two more annual funding bills in committee markups, the Defense and Labor-Health and Human Services Appropriations bills.

While the Senate Committee approved the bills in bipartisan votes, Senate Appropriators may be setting a collision course with the House of Representatives and President Trump on funding levels, as Senators largely dismissed President Trump’s calls for deep funding cuts in the Labor-Health and Human Services package. Notably, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $4 billion in FY 2026 funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in the Labor-Health and Human Services bill, a $20 million increase over the current enacted funding level, rejecting President Trump’s request to defund the program.