A bipartisan group of senators is calling on the Trump administration to "immediately" release funds aimed at helping low-income Americans heat and cool their homes.

In a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 31 senators pressed for the release of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds.

Most of the letter's signatories were Democrats, but they were joined by Republicans Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Dan Sullivan (Alaska) and Chuck Grassley (Iowa).

"We request that you quickly release LIHEAP funds at the highest level possible, so that low-income households do not have to choose between paying for heat and affording other necessities like food or medicine," they wrote.

The funding was delayed by the federal government shutdown. But on Friday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also accused the Trump administration of "slow walking" it.

In response, HHS blamed Schumer and the shutdown in a social media post, adding that it was "expediting internal procedures to accelerate the disbursement of LIHEAP funds as soon as possible."

Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, said that the administration wasn't "able to release any funds" before the government passed a funding bill this week.

However, he also raised concerns about the Trump administration's move earlier this year to fire all of the staffers who worked on LIHEAP.

"The people that helped the pieces fall in place have all been fired," he said. "I'm assuming that's going to slow things down."

He added that if the funds are not dispersed quickly, people may suffer in order to be able to pay for heating.

"Every day that passes, in the Northeast, especially New England, there are people that have to do without in order to buy that fuel."

The shutdown also snarled Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food assistance payments for low-income households. During the shutdown, the Trump administration ordered states to undo SNAP payments.

Bipartisan group of senators calls for release of funding for low-income heating 'immediately'