One lawmaker had a plan to tackle AI. House GOP leaders said no

By Annie Grayer, CNN

(CNN) — In December 2024, a bipartisan congressional task force studying the possible perils of artificial intelligence issued 85 recommendations for how lawmakers could act on the issue. GOP Rep. Jay Obernolte, a key figure on the task force, asked Republican leaders to go even further, establishing a special committee to draft legislation.

But almost two years later, there are no real laws to rein in the rapid advancement of AI, and the Trump administration has made clear it has no appetite for regulation. Obernolte told CNN he couldn’t even get his special committee approved by GOP leaders, who a source said felt the task force had accomplished what it set out to do and that existing committees could work from its recommendations.

“I think the need for action is urgent,” Obernolte said in an interview. “We have been saying this for the last year and a half.”

The episode is emblematic of how AI has vexed US lawmakers, the complicated nature of the issue colliding head on with the intense partisanship and convoluted bureaucracy of Congress. Multiple bipartisan bills have been introduced, including a proposal to require the most powerful AI companies develop a kill switch for their technology and legislation to establish safeguards for all AI models.

Many proposals have never even made it to the floor for a vote, waylaid in a morass of committees. Lawmakers openly talk about how some of their older colleagues don’t understand the technology – and express open skepticism about their ability to effectively legislate it.

“If people put all of their hopes in government and Congress to solve the problems in the world, I think that they will be woefully disappointed,” GOP Rep. Eric Burlison, who served on the now-disbanded AI task force, told CNN.

The issue of AI has once again risen to the center of public debate in recent weeks, with whistleblower and AI executives raising alarm bills and pleading for regulation, while President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and others warn that slowing down development of the technology will only serve to benefit China in what effectively amounts to an arms race.

Earlier this week, members of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology met with representatives of Hugging Face, Anthropic, Open AI and other third party auditors to brief lawmakers, leaders of the committee said. The representatives were asked if they need oversight or if they can self-police, and they said they were committed to instituting guardrails but they couldn’t trust that everyone in the industry would do the same, according to two sources in the meeting.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has called for “a light touch approach.” Democrats generally prefer a more aggressive posture.

“I am worried about the most powerful technology in the history of our world, of humanity, being on a collision course with congressional dysfunction,” Democratic Rep. Lori Trahan, who has been working on AI legislation with Obernolte for over a year, told CNN.

Key legislation stalled

Since the 2024 task force report, Congress has taken only steps around the margins of AI. A senior GOP leadership aide said they did not proceed with a special committee because the broad view among leadership was that the task force had accomplished what it set out to do and the standing committees that already have AI jurisdiction had the recommendations from the task force to consider.

Last year, Trump signed into law a bill that made it illegal to share online nonconsensual, explicit images — real or computer-generated — that also required tech platforms to remove such images within 48 hours of being notified about them. On Wednesday, the House overwhelmingly passed a bill to limit the rising cost of utility bills linked to the rapid expansion of data centers that power AI.

But more substantive bills have gone nowhere. The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology passed 10 AI-related bills out of committee in June that still have not been brought to the floor. Lawmakers in both parties – including Thune, Democratic Rep. Amy Klobuchar, GOP Sen. Josh Hawley and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal – have put forward proposals. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, has stridently warned in recent days about the dangers of AI. But there is no agreed-upon leader or expert on the issue in Capitol Hill.

“Tell me what congressman is going to educate every other congressman on what Anthropic does. Give me a break. Half the Congress is 70 years old. They don’t even know how to turn on their cell phone without help from staff,” GOP Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia, who served on the task force with Obernolte, told CNN.

Trump has long touted the benefits of AI, but other Republicans had been wary of over-regulation before he took office. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told members of the task force in 2024 that he was not interested in seeing heavy regulations stifling AI, according to a source familiar with the discussion. Scalise said publicly at the time that he wanted to fill in gaps but not add burdensome regulations.

Some who favor regulation see their cause buoyed by warnings from AI industry leaders – even if they’re wary anything will happen.

“My message is like, ‘Hey, thank goodness. Welcome to the party.’ I’m glad everybody’s getting on board that this now has the national attention that it deserves,’” GOP Rep. Scott Franklin, a former member of the task force and co-sponsor on a number of pieces of AI legislation, told CNN. “But this is something we’ve been working on legislatively for a long time trying to get the attention to have these issues looked at.”

GOP Rep. Kat Cammack was even more pointed.

“We certainly have the capability to do it. I don’t know if the political will is there,” she told CNN. “I think the political will doesn’t exist because you have members that don’t really understand it.”

But others say their skepticism remains – including of the unusual calls from the AI industry for congressional intervention.

“I’m not bailing you out,” McCormick told CNN. “Why am I responsible for you being safe? That’s good business. Being safe is good business. You put the guardrails on yourself.”

Democrats take up the pro-regulation cause

Democrats, meanwhile, have intensified their calls for regulation in recent weeks, particularly after former President Barack Obama called on his party to prioritize the issue. After the task force concluded its work in 2024, the top Democrat in the House, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, created his own commission. The party has generally sought to frame the issue as one of the everyman vs. the elites.

“I think that for far too long, big tech and money in politics have driven agendas in Congress that have crippled our ability to meet the moment on every urgent issue facing the country. So, we can’t rely on AI companies to lead the way on this, to regulate themselves. This is the role of the federal government. And it is absolutely essential that we rise to meet this moment,” Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen said.

Democrats, too, suggest the issue of regulation is not as complicated as some of their GOP colleagues suggest. Competitiveness with China is an issue, but what good is competition in a world run by AI? Sure, some lawmakers are aging – but lawmakers have never had to be subject matter experts for every bill they support.

“If you took that standard, then Congress could never regulate airplanes or medicine or energy,” said Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu, who was the top Democrat on the bipartisan task force and has continued the work in the minority even without a GOP counterpart. “There’s all sorts of regulations that are common sense that Congress can pass and should pass and doesn’t require anyone being a [computer science] major to understand what these bills do.”

A bipartisan group of members have called on Johnson to keep the House in session so lawmakers can work on negotiating AI reforms. That’s not happening: Johnson decided instead to send the House home a day early, not to return until after the November midterms.

But some say it’s not reason to give up. Democratic Rep. Don Beyer, one of the lawmakers calling on Johnson to keep the House in session, found himself consoling two of his constituents earlier this week who have a fourth-grade daughter and are worried there will not be a future for her if the threats of AI come true.

“I said to them: I think there is still time.”

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