Healthcare In 2009, Shaheen partnered with U.S. Senator
Susan Collins to introduce the Medicare Transitional Care Act, which provides follow-up care for discharged hospital patients to reduce re-hospitalizations. The bill passed in 2010, and research at the
University of Pennsylvania predicted the measure would lower the cost of healthcare by as much as $5,000 per Medicare beneficiary while also improving healthcare quality and reducing re-hospitalizations. In December 2009, Shaheen voted for the
Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Before the rollout of the ACA, Shaheen said that people who liked their current healthcare plans could keep them. When asked about people who were losing their healthcare plans due to the ACA, Shaheen said they could keep their plans if they were "willing to pay more". , and U.S. envoy to Syria
Tom Barrack met with Syrian President
Ahmed al-Sharaa, August 2025 In August 2019, Shaheen was one of 19 senators to sign a letter to
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar requesting data from the Trump administration to help states and Congress understand the potential consequences of the
Texas v. United States Affordable Care Act lawsuit, writing that an overhaul of the present health care system would form "an enormous hole in the pocketbooks of the people we serve as well as wreck state budgets". In October 2019, Shaheen was one of 27 senators to sign a letter to Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer advocating the passage of the Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence (CHIME) Act, which was set to expire the following month. The senators warned that if the funding for the Community Health Center Fund (CHCF) was allowed to expire, it "would cause an estimated 2,400 site closures, 47,000 lost jobs, and threaten the health care of approximately 9 million Americans."
Fiscal On October 11, 2011, Shaheen voted to proceed with a proposed bill that included $446 billion in spending on infrastructure and schools and provided funding for state and local governments, as well as an extension of the payroll tax deduction. The spending would have been paid for by a 5.6% surtax on incomes above $1 million. The bill failed to obtain cloture. Shaheen used an earmark in a large appropriations bill to restore funding for a federal prison in Berlin, NH, despite a $276 million recommended cut.
Gun policy Shaheen supports making it illegal for individuals on the terrorist watchlist to buy guns and voted in favor of a bill proposing to expand background checks for gun purchases. She also voted to ban magazines of over 10 bullets. In 2016, she participated in the
Chris Murphy gun control filibuster in the wake of the
Orlando nightclub shooting. Shaheen said that "moments of sympathy are not enough" and that common-sense gun laws must be enacted.
Energy Following the
BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, Shaheen proposed abolishing the
Minerals Management Service, the U.S. government agency tasked with regulating offshore drilling, arguing that reform had been insufficient and that a new agency was needed. Shaheen also proposed legislation giving the president's bipartisan
BP Oil Spill Commission subpoena power in its investigation. She argued that subpoena power was necessary to avoid another such disaster, emphasizing the spill's economic costs to the Gulf Coast region and the economy as a whole. On April 28, 2014, Shaheen introduced the
Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2014 (S. 2262; 113th Congress), a bill intended to improve
efficient energy use. In March 2019 Shaheen was an original cosponsor of a bipartisan bill intended to mandate that the Environmental Protection Agency declare per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as hazardous substances that can be addressed with cleanup funds via the EPA Superfund law and require that polluters undertake or pay for remediation within a year of the bill's enaction. Shaheen opposed
Nord Stream 2, a pipeline for delivering
natural gas from Russia to Germany.
Iraq War In 2002, when Shaheen narrowly lost to Sununu, she supported both the
2003 invasion of Iraq and "regime change" for Iraq. Shaheen said that she came to supporting the policy of removing Saddam Hussein from power after meeting with former Clinton-administration National Security Advisor
Sandy Berger. According to the
Concord Monitor and Associated Press, the issue was a minor one in the race. Shaheen later questioned
George W. Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq. In a September 2004 televised interview as Kerry presidential campaign chair she said: George [W.] Bush has taken us in the wrong direction. He misled us into war in Iraq. That war has not made us safer and more secure at home ... You know, we have not stabilized Afghanistan. We have not stabilized Iraq. There is no plan to win the peace. On July 28, 2004, while serving as Chair of the Kerry-Edwards Campaign, Shaheen answered questions about her prior support of the Iraq war during an interview on C-SPAN.
War in Afghanistan in a meeting with
Afghan women, 2021 Shaheen opposed the
2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan under President
Joe Biden.
LGBT rights Shaheen initially opposed
same-sex marriage as Governor of New Hampshire, but in 2009 she came out in favor of
marriage for same-sex couples and sponsored the
Respect for Marriage Act. She also voted in favor of the
repeal of Don't ask, don't tell, and supports government recognition of same-sex spouses of military and other government personnel.
Minimum wage On March 5, 2021, Shaheen voted against
Bernie Sanders's amendment to include a $15/hour
minimum wage in the
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Immigration In 2025, Shaheen was one of 12 Senate Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the
Laken Riley Act.
Sudanese civil war In October 2025, after the
Rapid Support Forces (RSF)
captured El Fasher in
Sudan, Shaheen denounced the RSF
massacre of local civilians, urged that the RSF be designated a terrorist organization, and harshly criticized the
United Arab Emirates for its support of the RSF. ==Electoral history==