The federal government on Tuesday said it will release $3.7 billion in congressionally approved funding to restart a low-income heating assistance program that had been paused during the government shutdown, but it could be more than a week for the money to start flowing.

Andrew Gradison, principal secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in a letter released Tuesday said the funding will go out to state agencies that administer the Home Energy Assistance Program grants by the end of this month.

Gradison, who oversees the HHS’s Administration for Children and Families, in the letter blamed 42 days of “the Democrat-led shutdown,” for causing the delay before Congress passed, and President Donald Trump signed, a continuing appropriations bill Nov. 12. Democrats blame

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