Expressing Concern about Social Safety Net Programs
Dear Friend,
This week, I returned to Washington and expressed concern about what the Trump-Musk co-presidency is doing to social safety net programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and urged everyone to express their outrage and unwillingness to accept it. I also read with disbelief the stunning revelation of bombing plans shared during a Signal app text thread that included an editor of The Atlantic and called for real accountability, questioned the reason for mass layoffs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), met with Delta Sigma Theta sorority members, welcomed being named the fifth most effective Democratic lawmaker in the 118th Congress; introduced a measure to provide tax credits for the purchase of mobility devices like wheelchairs, reintroduced a bill to treat Cuban Major League Baseball players more fairly, invited talented high school artists to submit their work to the annual Congressional Art Competition, and offered a “Friday Flashback,” a Bill Day cartoon, and a health tip. Keep reading and follow me on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram to see what I am doing as it happens.
Expressing Concern about Social Safety Net Programs
Condemning Outrageous Signal App Leak on Houthi Attack Plan
Questioning Rationale for Closing Consumer Protection Bureau
Meeting with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Members
Welcoming Recognition as Fifth Most Effective Democratic Lawmaker
Introducing the Mobility Means Freedom Tax Credit Act
Eliminating Visa Restrictions for Cuban Baseball Players
Inviting Submissions to Congressional Art Competition
Expressing Concern about Social Safety Net Programs
As it becomes clearer that the Trump-Musk plan is to chop Medicare and Medicaid and privatize Social Security, I am encouraging all of those affected – or just offended -- to protest vigorously as I work to prevent the damage. Why does this matter? Sixty-nine million people receive Social Security benefits in what Elon Musk calls a Ponzi scheme. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is hollowing out the Social Security workforce and closing regional offices so they can claim the system is failing. They have also proposed cutting off the customer service phone lines that senior citizens rely on to get answers. For the moment, that dangerously stupid idea has been put on hold, but it’s clear what this second Trump Administration and the GOP Project 2025 planners have in mind, and it must be stopped.
Condemning Outrageous Signal App Leak on Houthi Attack Plan
In a set of circumstances almost beyond belief, Trump’s national security advisor invited the editor of The Atlantic magazine into a group chat planning an attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen on the unsecured commercial Signal app. Some of the officials were in foreign countries and may have been using their personal devices, which can be easily hacked. Beyond the sheer incompetence this displayed, it was also criminally negligent and just plain ridiculous. All of the people on the chat, and particularly former Fox News host and current Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, should be fired, and also should be prosecuted for violating the Espionage Act and other federal laws. No one believes this didn’t harm our national security and could have endangered American pilots. It’s time for some accountability in this administration. I joined Congressional colleagues in a letter to those on the Signal chat calling their misconduct “inexcusable.” See that letter here.
Questioning Rationale for Closing Consumer Protection Bureau
On Thursday, I wrote to the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) expressing concern about the mass dismissal of its workforce and the undermining of its mission by a self-interested Elon Musk. The CFPB has returned $67 million to 145,000 people in Tennessee since its inception and fields complaints of fraud that lead to just solutions. I asked when its investigative work will resume. See my release and the letter here.
Meeting with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Members
On Tuesday, a group of constituents who are members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority met with me in Washington. We discussed important topics such as criminal justice reform, voter suppression and women’s reproductive rights. I was also glad to hear that some had been among the hundreds who attended my March 18 town hall.
Welcoming Recognition as Fifth Most Effective Democratic Lawmaker
On Wednesday, I was honored to be recognized as the fifth most effective Democratic member of the 118th Congress (2023-2024) by the Center for Effective Lawmaking. The assessment is made in a report by the Center’s Co-Directors, Craig Volden of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, and Alan Wiseman of the Department of Political Science at Vanderbilt University. Serving in the minority in the 118th Congress posed challenges to reaching the kinds of bipartisan consensus that result in legislation being signed into law, so I was pleased to see that objective academic experts saw that I was successful in doing that.
Introducing the Mobility Means Freedom Tax Credit Act
On Tuesday, I introduced the Mobility Means Freedom Tax Credit Act to provide a 50 percent tax credit in the out-of-pocket expense of up to three mobility devices a year. The tax credit would apply to wheelchairs, braces, walkers, crutches, orthotics and prosthetics that help people with their mobility. See my release here.
Eliminating Visa Restrictions for Cuban Baseball Players
On Thursday, I reintroduced the Baseball Diplomacy Act to eliminate barriers to Cuban athletes entering the U.S. on non-immigrant visas during the baseball season and then returning home when the season ends. The measure would allow players to retain their Cuban citizenship and return to Cuba with their earnings, rather than having to renounce their citizenship and abandon their families to play baseball in the United States. See details in this release.
Inviting Submissions to Congressional Art Competition
Again this year, I am soliciting artwork from 9th Congressional District high school students for the Congressional Art Competition. It’s an opportunity to recognize and encourage artistic talent across the country. Winners will have their works hung in the U.S. Capitol for a year. The deadline to submit artwork is Tuesday, April 22, at noon. See rules and details here. If you have further questions, contact my District office at (901) 544-4131.
This is me with the late John Seigenthaler, a First Amendment champion, journalist and aide to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, with cartoonist Bill Day on the night Day received the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for political cartooning in May 2010.
A Bill Day Cartoon – “Social Security Wreck”
The vaccination rate of kindergartners for measles in Tennessee has fallen to 92.8 percent, lower than the required 95 percent needed to achieve “herd” immunity, Jane Roberts reported in The Daily Memphian this week. That news followed reports that at least one person in Middle Tennessee has been diagnosed with the extremely contagious and quite dangerous illness. And this morning’s Commercial Appeal reports the first case in Shelby County. (Another 18 states have reported cases.) I urge you to get your children the MMR (mumps, measles and rubella) vaccine and avoid preventable misery. See Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance on measles here.
“I worry this is an attack on the idea that you should have an educated electorate. It’s just terrifying.” – Paula Krebs, executive director of the Modern Language Association, on Trump-Musk order eliminating funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services
As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress