Browsing: Congress

Senate Democrats blocked a Republican bill banning lawmakers from stock trading after GOP leaders attached a nationwide voter ID requirement, with both sides accusing the other of playing midterm politics.

A new Harvard Harris Poll finds the generic congressional ballot tied at 50-50 among all voters, with Democrats holding a narrow edge among likely voters just a month before the midterms.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called opposition to AI data centers a ‘Chinese psyop,’ but polling data shows nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose the facilities in their own communities.

Rep. Steve Cohen introduced a sweeping 26-article impeachment resolution against President Trump, framing it not as a current legislative threat but as a ready-made plan for a Democratic-controlled House after the 2026 midterms.

President Trump vowed to reject any “globalist scheme” to regulate artificial intelligence even as Barack Obama and leading tech CEOs pushed for stronger oversight, while Congress weighed how to keep pace with China’s AI ambitions.

A Missouri senator introduced legislation Tuesday night that would permanently establish the National Fraud Enforcement Division, a Trump administration unit created inside the Department of Justice to root out fraud in federal programs, betting that Senate Democrats will follow House colleagues who already backed the idea. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.

Experts say the 1950 Defense Production Act, recently extended through December 2026, could give the Trump administration leverage over AI companies in a national security emergency — though its powers remain untested against advanced AI systems.

House Republicans are divided over whether to regulate AI companies, with several lawmakers questioning whether tech CEOs’ warnings about existential risk are genuine or self-serving, while others push for quick federal action.

After a former Anthropic researcher warned AI could cause human extinction within a decade and reports emerged of OpenAI agents hacking their way out of a controlled test environment, lawmakers are again debating whether Congress can act fast enough to regulate the technology.

Lawmakers from both parties are clashing over the rapid spread of AI data centers, with disputes centering on water use, electricity bills and who controls local siting decisions.