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Key Issues

Accountability & Democracy​

Steve Cohen is a Democratic leader in fighting Trump’s corruption, abuse of power, and threats to democracy. Most recently, he co-sponsored 13 new articles of impeachment against Trump, citing abuses ranging from an unconstitutional war in Iran to the deployment of military forces in American cities and ongoing attacks on the rule of law. He introduced legislation to protect the separation of powers and prohibit taxpayer dollars from going to Trump-owned properties, including Trump Hotels and Mar-a-Lago, so our public money serves us, not his private profit. He has also introduced legislation to curb abuses of the presidential pardon power and prevent it from being used to shield corruption.

Steve Cohen was the first member of Congress to file complete impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump in 2019, standing alongside John Lewis to defend the Constitution and the rule of law. He has now voted to impeach Trump four times and continues to lead efforts to ensure these abuses are on the record and cannot be ignored. He continues to hold officials accountable, including calling for the abolition of ICE, citing human rights abuses, and serving as an original cosponsor to impeach Kristi Noem, who oversaw the agency’s actions. He is the only member of Congress from Tennessee taking this stand.

Cohen is also fighting for transparency and truth. He introduced the Volume II Transparency Act to force the release of Special Counsel findings related to potential obstruction of justice, including the Special Counsel’s report on classified documents illegally taken from the White House and found at Mar-a-Lago, ensuring the American people can see the full facts for themselves.

Protecting elections is also central to Cohen’s work. He fights to ensure every eligible voter can participate freely and securely, opposing laws and policies that restrict access to the ballot, especially those that disproportionately impact minority and underrepresented communities.

When he was Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, Cohen presided over hearings on voting rights, election security, threats to civil liberties, and the advancement of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), reinforcing his longstanding commitment to equality under the law.

When the Democrats re-take control of Congress, Steve Cohen will be in the best possible position to hold Trump accountable and to restore protections for America’s democracy. As a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, he will be on the front lines of oversight, investigations, and restoring the rule of law.

Everyone deserves access to safe, affordable housing, regardless of whether they are a renter, a homeowner, a senior on a fixed income, or someone struggling to find stable shelter. Steve Cohen has worked tirelessly both in Congress and at home to expand housing, revitalize neighborhoods, and ensure federal policy works for working families, not just speculators.

One of Steve Cohen’s top priorities is ensuring federal resources are distributed fairly. He reintroduced the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Equity Act to update the outdated formula used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) so that communities with the greatest need, including high poverty, overcrowded units, and elderly households, receive funding that reflects real conditions. This focus on fairness helps supporters feel confident that Cohen is fighting for equitable treatment for all neighborhoods, especially in Memphis.

Congressman Cohen has also secured millions of dollars in federal funding for Tennessee’s 9th district. His appropriations work has helped fund several projects including Covenant Gardens Senior Apartments, creating 103 units of long‑term affordable housing for lower‑income seniors. His projects, partnering with local nonprofits to expand mixed‑income housing and address homelessness, demonstrate his commitment to building stronger, more resilient communities that support everyone’s well-being.

Steve Cohen has also helped expand homeownership opportunities and preserve existing housing stock. He championed community partnerships and funding for programs like the Castalia Heights Affordable Homeownership Opportunity Development Project, which creates affordable homes for purchase, as well as efforts to assist very low‑income homeowners with critical repairs. He also secured funding for programs that directly support low-income and senior homeowners, including $3 million in HUD funding for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Memphis Critical Home Repairs for Seniors Program. This initiative provides grants of $5,000 to $20,000 for essential home repairs, allowing seniors to safely age in place.

Beyond building new housing, Steve Cohen has pushed for accountability when housing conditions fail residents. He introduced the Housing Accountability Act to hold property owners accountable for unsafe or substandard conditions at federally subsidized housing, ensuring tenants have safe, healthy places to live and that poor living conditions are addressed rather than ignored. Key provisions of the legislation were passed by both the House and Senate and signed into law, increasing penalties for landlords who repeatedly fail to meet basic health and safety standards.

Housing affordability is tied to overall community investment, and Steve Cohen has supported projects that revitalize neglected areas, transforming vacant or distressed properties into community hubs with mixed‑use housing, local services, and public space. His leadership secured funding to convert the former Northside High School into Northside Square, a mixed‑use development that includes affordable housing and community resources. He also secured $3 million to renovate the historic Melrose High School in Orange Mound, transforming the site into a community-centered development with a library, genealogy center, café, and 28 senior living apartments, preserving a historic landmark while expanding access to affordable housing for low-income residents.

Steve Cohen understands that affordable housing is essential to economic security, intergenerational stability, and community health. From updating outdated federal funding formulas and securing local housing investments to protecting residents and expanding homeownership opportunities, Steve Cohen’s work on housing reflects his belief that everyone deserves a stable, dignified place to call home.

Millions of Americans feel they are doing everything right, yet are falling further behind, unable to reach their American Dream. Families face rising costs for groceries, rent, childcare, healthcare, utilities, and insurance, making them feel understood and supported. Steve Cohen recognizes this hardship as the result of decades of economic policies favoring the wealthy over working families.

In Congress, Steve Cohen is one of the loudest voices for restoring fairness and opportunity. He introduced the Billionaire Income Tax Act to ensure the ultra-wealthy pay what they owe, and his office helps regular families in Memphis get their tax refunds every day. Cohen continues to fight to raise the minimum wage to $15 and bring thousands of good-paying jobs to Memphis. He opposes Trump’s tariffs, which raise costs and strain family budgets, and supports Medicare for All, so nobody in Memphis pays for healthcare. For Steve, a strong economy begins with strong families. When Memphis communities are strong, small businesses thrive, and the nation benefits.

Investing in Memphis is another cornerstone of Cohen’s approach. He fights for infrastructure improvements, modern transportation, workforce development, and skilled trades, all aimed at giving Memphis families real opportunities to thrive amid rising costs. He has fought corporate price-gouging, unfair tax loopholes, and economic policies that leave everyday Americans in Memphis to shoulder the burden of rising expenses.

For Steve Cohen, making life more affordable is about more than politics; it’s about building a community where every family has stability, opportunity, and dignity. By raising wages, holding corporations and the ultra-wealthy accountable, expanding access to healthcare, and investing in Memphis, Steve works daily to restore fairness. When families succeed, our entire nation benefits, inspiring a shared sense of purpose and progress.

For Steve Cohen, healthcare is not just policy; it’s deeply personal. It’s about families, economic stability, and moral responsibility.

He has long fought to expand access to care and lower costs for working families. In Memphis and communities across the country, too many families are paying more and getting less. America spends more on healthcare than any other nation, yet patients face doctor shortages, rising prescription drug prices, surprise bills, and mental health services that are too often out of reach. Maternal mortality remains unacceptably high, especially for Black mothers, and medical debt continues to devastate households.

Since arriving in Congress in 2007, Steve Cohen has stood firmly for Medicare for All, long before it was politically fashionable, because he believes no one should go bankrupt or die simply because they cannot afford care.

Steve Cohen believes healthcare should be affordable, accessible, and centered on people, not profits.

He has consistently supported strengthening and expanding Medicaid, protecting coverage for low-income families and vulnerable children, and cracking down on corporate consolidation that turns hospitals and insurance companies into monopolies. He backs aggressive action to lower prescription drug costs, end predatory pricing, enforce hospital price transparency, and hold insurers accountable when they deny care or bury families in red tape.

Mental health advocacy is especially personal to him. His father was a psychiatrist, and from a young age he learned that mental illness is a treatable medical condition, not a stigma. Cohen’s personal experience fuels his dedication to legislation that strengthens mental health and addiction parity laws, ensuring insurance coverage for these essential services.

He also champions robust funding for the National Institutes of Health, which he calls our nation’s “other Department of Defense.” As co-chair of the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus, Cohen has fought to increase NIH funding and stop Donald Trump from slashing America’s investment in research. He believes sustained federal funding is essential to finding cures, improving treatments, preventing future pandemics, and keeping America competitive in cutting-edge biomedical science.

That commitment delivers tangible results in Memphis. Institutions like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have received significant federal research grants supporting breakthroughs in immunology and Alzheimer’s detection. Cohen has also secured federal support for community health initiatives, including grants for Regional One Health and funding for modern, life-saving ambulances serving children at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.

He has also helped direct federal resources to community health centers across Memphis, including the Memphis Health Center, Christ Community Health Services, and other neighborhood-based clinics that provide primary care, maternal health services, and preventive care to thousands of residents regardless of their ability to pay. These investments strengthen frontline care and ensure that families can access trusted providers close to home.

For Steve Cohen, investing in healthcare means investing in Memphis – creating jobs, strengthening families, preparing for public health threats, and improving lives across West Tennessee. He continues to support Medicare for All because he believes healthcare is a right, not a privilege, and ensuring that right is a moral responsibility we all share.

For Steve Cohen, protecting Social Security is about honoring a promise to the American people. After a lifetime of work, seniors, people with disabilities, and surviving family members deserve the retirement security they earned. Congressman Cohen has consistently fought to defend Social Security from cuts, strengthen benefits, and ensure the program remains strong for future generations.

Steve Cohen has cosponsored several major bills designed to increase Social Security benefits and protect seniors from rising costs. These include the Seniors Deserve a Raise Act, which would expand benefits for millions of retirees, and the Guaranteed 3% COLA for Seniors Act, which would ensure retirees receive a meaningful annual cost-of-living increase, even when inflation measures fail to reflect seniors’ real expenses. 

He also supports the CPI for Seniors Act, which would change how cost-of-living adjustments are calculated so that increases better reflect the actual costs older Americans face, including rising healthcare, housing, and prescription drug expenses. 

Beyond Social Security, Cohen has also worked to protect retirement benefits. He cosponsored the Keep Our Pension Promises Act to prevent retirees from losing the pension benefits they earned and to stabilize struggling pension plans so workers and retirees can count on the benefits they were promised. 

Beyond legislation, Congressman Cohen’s office works directly with thousands of Tennesseans every year to help them navigate Social Security benefits, disability claims, and retirement payments. His constituent services team regularly assists seniors and families with delayed payments, benefit disputes, and appeals so they can receive the support they earned.

Steve Cohen believes Social Security is one of America’s greatest achievements. It is a promise that after decades of hard work, Americans will not be left behind in retirement. That’s why he continues to fight to protect benefits, strengthen the program, and ensure Social Security remains secure for generations to come.