Democrat Steve Cohen filed 26 impeachment articles against President Trump, a dead-on-arrival measure he calls a roadmap if Democrats seize the House in 2026.
Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee introduced a sprawling resolution laying out 26 articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, a move that stands virtually no chance of advancing in the Republican-controlled House.
Cohen cast the filing as more than a protest. He presented it as a blueprint for the next Congress if voters hand Democrats the speaker’s gavel in the 2026 midterms, and he will not be there to pursue it himself.
Breitbart reported the Tennessee Democrat’s announcement came nine days after the House already shelved related motions from another Democrat. The battle for House control is intensifying ahead of those midterms.
Cohen serves on the House Judiciary Committee. In a statement issued Thursday, he left little doubt about his view of the president or of his own party’s Republican colleagues.
Cohen said:
“Trump is clearly the most impeachable President our country has ever endured. His continued presence in office is a danger to our democracy. That the sycophantic Republican majority in Congress is derelict in its duty does not mean that I must abandon my responsibilities.”
He tied the filing directly to his oath of office.
Cohen said:
“I took an independent oath to support and defend the Constitution. That commitment compels me to introduce this resolution today. When historians write about this period, and our constituents ask who stood up to President Trump’s lawlessness, this resolution is the answer.”
He added that he “sincerely believe[s] that the 120th Congress will better live up to its duties as co-equal branch of government and a check on the executive,” and that he hopes the resolution “paves the way to accountability.”
“We cannot tolerate this kind [of] lawlessness and corruption,” Cohen said.
Cohen’s filing did not arrive in a vacuum. On September 15, the House voted 232-147 to shelve motions from Rep. Al Green, the Houston Democrat. That rejection came nine days before Cohen unveiled his own 26-article package.
Under current GOP leadership, Cohen’s resolution is expected to be tabled. The measure has virtually no path in a Republican majority. Cohen framed it anyway as preparation for a possible Democratic majority after November voting.
He will not serve in that next Congress as a representative. In May, Breitbart News reported that Cohen ended his bid for re-election after redistricting efforts made a win in his Memphis-area seat unlikely. Come January, on day one of the 120th Congress, he will be gone.
Cohen’s resolution runs the length of the administration’s second-term priorities and beyond. The articles, as labeled in the filing, cover elections, foreign operations, immigration enforcement, spending, personnel, media, and more.
The list includes:
Several titles take direct aim at core second-term policies: the birthright citizenship executive order, mass deportation and immigration enforcement, use of the Alien Enemies Act, federal deployments to U.S. cities, tariffs under emergency powers, and moves involving the Department of Education. Others allege interference with prosecutors, the press, law firms, universities, inspectors general, and appropriated funds.
Article XVI names James Comey, Letitia James, and Adam Schiff under a “political prosecutions” heading. Article VIII pairs court disputes with Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Article IX cites conditions at CECOT detention facilities. The package also reaches the White House East Wing, the pardon power, and emoluments claims.
Cohen’s office posted the comprehensive articles of impeachment. Newsweek also covered the introduction. The underlying factual claims inside each article rest on Cohen’s characterizations and the titles themselves; the resolution packages them as grounds for removal.
Cohen did not hide the political timing. He said he wants the 120th Congress, if Democrats win the House, to treat the document as a working plan for oversight and accountability against the executive branch. The fight for that majority is already underway.
Republicans hold the chamber now. They just voted down Green’s motions by a wide margin. Cohen’s 26-article resolution faces the same leadership and the same math. He introduced it anyway, then reminded readers he is leaving.
The sequence is plain. A Houston Democrat’s push fails on the floor. Nine days later a Tennessee Democrat on the Judiciary Committee drops a far longer indictment. That Democrat has already quit the race for his redrawn seat. He hands the next Democratic majority a pre-written case and walks out the door in January.
Voters still decide in 2026 whether any of it becomes more than a press release and a committee-member farewell.
Impeachment theater from a lame-duck member who already lost his district is not constitutional duty, it is a campaign memo dressed up as high crime, and the House already showed what it thinks of the script.
