Donald Trump wants Congress to help the artificial intelligence industry by passing a law that blocks state efforts to regulate the technology. But his latest plan is getting a frosty reception on Capitol Hill.
The president recently unveiled a proposal urging Congress to enact legislation that would preempt state AI laws. Unlike previous attempts by Republicans to block state rules, the plan also includes guardrails on how the technology affects electricity costs, kids safety, free speech and copyright. The new White House proposal is being hailed by the tech lobby, which fears a growing patchwork of tougher state AI rules that it says would stymie growth.
But any attempt to pass a federal AI law will require bipartisan buy-in. And key lawmakers — including multiple Democrats seen as sympathetic to the tech sector’s worries about state AI laws — are dismissing the Republican proposal as a partisan play that ignores Democratic concerns and lets the AI industry off the hook, even as voters sour on the technology.
The resistance on Capitol Hill raises fresh doubts about whether Congress can pass any national laws for the rapidly advancing technology as states move ahead on their own.
New Jersey's Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a pro-business Democrat and co-chair of the new House Democratic Commission on AI, immediately criticized the White House plan as a “half-measure” that “lacks key consumer protections.” And in an interview with POLITICO, he blamed the Trump administration and House Republican leaders for rejecting earlier efforts to bring the parties together on AI — including a bipartisan task force that GOP leaders declined to renew this Congress.
“Leadership in the House disbanded the AI committee, and they're going it alone, really turned over the keys largely to the White House,” Gottheimer said. “And they've not encouraged a bipartisan process here.”
Rep. Sam Liccardo (Calif.), a Democrat from Silicon Valley who maintains close ties with the tech industry, also said the debate over AI regulation has “become rapidly partisan” — to the point that he is now considering stepping back from the issue.
“I'm convinced we're going to get nothing done if this continues on its path of being deeply divisive,” Liccardo told POLITICO. “So I'm certainly happy to talk to folks who are part of that effort, but I don't think that's where I'm going to focus my energy."
At least one key Republican worries the window is narrowing to pass the president’s plan for an AI law without effective outreach to Democrats.
“From a political standpoint, this needs to be bipartisan,” Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) told reporters. “We're going to need 60 votes in the Senate no matter what we do.”
Obernolte, who is widely seen by the tech lobby as the Republican best situated to strike an AI compromise with Democrats, called the White House’s blueprint a “very helpful” guide book for Congress. But he suggested Democrats remain unlikely to view Trump’s AI plan favorably — “we’re at such a level of partisan division right now” — and said he would have liked to see GOP leadership create a bipartisan panel to address the technology this session.
“I think that would have sent the appropriate message for the urgency of getting some of those priorities across the finish line,” said Obernolte. He warned that Congress is “running out of legislative runway to get this done this year.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told POLITICO he has yet to be “presented with any proposals” on AI, and has not spoken with anyone from the White House about its new AI roadmap. And even some Republican leaders are acknowledging that outreach to Democrats has so far been limited.
“We're working right now amongst Republicans, but Democrats are well aware of what's going on,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told POLITICO. “I would hope they know that there's an AI revolution out there, and that China is trying to exceed what we're doing — and if Democrats don't want to be a part of it, why would they want China to win?”
Old tensions, new obstacles
The complaint that the White House and top Republicans are ignoring bipartisan interest in AI regulation as they work to steamroll opposition to a ban on state rules is not new.
Many lawmakers remain upset by last summer’s unsuccessful effort to ram through a moratorium on state AI laws. And even some tech lobbyists have said that a December executive order targeting states that pass new rules needlessly politicized the issue and poisoned the well for a compromise.
A White House official, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations, told POLITICO that the administration continues to have productive conversations with legislators on the objectives outlined in the national AI framework.
David Sacks, a venture capitalist now serving as a top science and tech adviser in the White House, had previously indicated that the AI framework was well-received on Capitol Hill and that Congress could pass a version of it within a few months. But few people share his rosy assessment.
“I don't take any of this very seriously. I don't know that folks are taking it very seriously,” a senior staffer from a Democratic lawmaker’s office, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive talks, told POLITICO.
“The tech right is used to operating with brute force under Trump — executive orders and super PACs,” said Nu Wexler, a tech consultant and former staffer at Google, Facebook and Twitter. “Passing a bipartisan bill requires a different skillset.”
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) told POLITICO in late March that talks with the White House are, for now, “at that conceptual level,” citing a conversation with the Office of Science and Technology Policy head Michael Kratsios several weeks before the road map’s release.
Tony Samp, principal AI adviser at lobbying and legal firm DLA Piper, noted that unlike other Democrats, neither Cantwell nor Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) publicly denounced the framework. “They appear to be keeping their powder dry for negotiations, at least for the moment, and may want to see what legislative text emerges before ruling anything out,” said Samp, though he added that the political environment is unfavorable for any bipartisan action right now.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has also expressed an openness to a national AI law that preempts state rules and includes substantive guardrails. But even he told POLITICO last month that he doubts a bipartisan deal can be brokered anytime soon.
Other key Democrats — including Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who co-chairs the House Democratic Commission on AI — continue to come out in opposition to the administration’s approach. “A number of provisions are good,” Lieu said in a post on X this week. “But I can’t support and I believe Congress won’t support preemption of states without federal standards.”
It’s possible that provisions resembling Trump’s AI proposal find their way onto the GOP’s must-pass budget bill, which could be the party’s last chance to advance partisan legislation. But with Congress bogged down over funding for immigration enforcement, a record-long partial shutdown and military operations in Iran, the Democratic staffer said finding a spot in the package would be a “knife fight.”
“I don't know that this will be the thing they want to put in there,” the staffer added.
Opposition to Trump’s AI proposal is so intense that many lobbyists and outside advocates are already looking to next year, when Democrats are expected to take back at least one legislative chamber. And progressives like Sean Vitka, executive director at progressive advocacy group Demand Progress, are already starting to worry that Democrats — particularly those on the new House commission — are prepping their own preemption push for when they’re in charge.
“This commission seems designed to signal that some Democrats, a faction of corporate-aligned Democrats, are open for business and want to get a head start on ensuring Big tech voices know that they still have friends in Congress ahead of the midterms,” Vitka said.
Cheyenne Haslett contributed reporting to this story.
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