Government Reform
In Congress, Congressman Cohen has taken numerous steps to begin to change the way we do business in Washington and to restore accountability and transparency to government.
He has voted for and passed legislation that banned gifts from lobbyists, prohibited the use of corporate jets, and required full disclosure of earmarks. He has supported legislation banning pensions for Members of Congress convicted of certain crimes, and to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act by increasing government transparency.
Congressman Cohen has also taken the lead on important structural reforms, like non-partisan redistricting with the John Tanner and Jim Cooper Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act, and the rigorous, nonpartisan agency oversight with the Independent Acting Inspectors General Act.
More on Government Reform
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today recognized Tuesday’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day by calling Renee Good and Alex Pretti, killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis for standing up for a just cause, just like the “righteousness among the nations” who saved Jews from the Holocaust.
He noted that the painter Marc Chagall credited the “righteous” non-Jews for saving his life after he fled to Marseille during the Second World War. The Nazi assaults, like current ICE outrages, are being conducted by agents of government.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today voted against the annual appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security that contains funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today questioned former Special Counsel Jack Smith about his investigation and indictments of Donald Trump for conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election and illegal retention of classified documents.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today signed a discharge petition to bring the Restore Trust in Government Act to the House floor for a vote. The petition requires 218 signatures. The Restore Trust in Government Act would end the practice of Members of Congress, the President and the Vice President trading stocks.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today wrote an eighth letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in an effort to understand Trump Administration immigration policy and the surge in employment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The letter was sent a day after an ICE agent killed an American citizen in Minneapolis.
The letter reads in part:
Dear Secretary Noem:
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today voted for a fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill to fund more than $3 million for U.S. Department of Justice-funded community projects in Memphis and Shelby County.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today addressed the shooting death of a 37-year-old U.S. citizen by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Wednesday in Minneapolis at a committee markup.
In his remarks, Congressman Cohen said in part:
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee who was in House Chamber when insurrectionists attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, questioned expert witnesses and then testified about his experience that day at a special hearing on the fifth anniversary of that violent attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of presidential power.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, today questioned an expert witness in an oversight hearing on reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s (FISA) Section 702 program which expires in April. His questions to Liza Goitein, the senior director for Liberty and National Security at the Brennan Center for Justice, focused on the impact of artificial intelligence in information gathering and the consistency of FISA court rulings.
WASHINGTON -- Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today reintroduced the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Equity Act, which would update the current U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) CDBG funding criteria and adopt a single formula for grants based on factors reflecting current needs.