The Senate votes 99-1 to remove a Trump tax bill provision that would have barred states from regulating AI if they got funding from a $500M broadband program
The Senate killed a controversial effort to prevent US states from regulating artificial intelligence, marking a loss …
Bloomberg
Context & Ripple Effects
The proposal had already moved from a House-backed 10-year preemption to a narrower five-year version with carve-outs, while the Senate parliamentarian had raised procedural concerns. The 99-1 vote ends that budget-bill route rather than resolving the underlying federal-versus-state policy dispute.
Bipartisan resistance from state lawmakers, attorneys general and consumer advocates had made the measure politically fragile. Its removal preserves the state policymaking role that the proposed funding condition sought to constrain.
First-order effects
States receiving the specified broadband funding are no longer bound by this provision, leaving their existing and prospective AI rules enforceable on their own terms.
Congress loses a near-term mechanism for using broadband-program eligibility to pressure states into regulatory restraint.
Second-order effects
AI companies and their customers must continue to account for state-by-state compliance exposure rather than relying on a federal pause; the earlier five-year compromise with carve-outs no longer supplies even a partial uniformity measure.
The lopsided vote strengthens state officials’ leverage in future federal negotiations after bipartisan state-level opposition helped make preemption untenable in this bill.
Third-order effects
The episode suggests that a durable national AI framework will need to clear ordinary legislative and political hurdles, rather than be attached to unrelated fiscal legislation; any eventual framework may have to accommodate state authority.
If federal preemption remains politically difficult, US AI governance is likely to develop through overlapping state rules and narrower federal measures, increasing the importance of state-mediated AI policy.
The trend: US AI governance is shifting toward a contested, layered model in which states retain rulemaking power while Congress debates whether and how to create a national baseline.
By crunch time, the coalition opposing the AI-law moratorium had grown to include not only Democrats and tech watchdogs, but state AGs and lawmakers of both parties, a broad array of civil society groups, organized labor — and ultimately the handful of Republican swing votes need…
@willoremus.com
Will Oremus on bluesky
Still too soon to say how it plays out, but at this moment there's a case to be made that Big Tech and GOP leaders overplayed their hand on the AI moratorium. The boldness of the 10-year ban mobilized a big and angry coalition against it, where a more modest proposal might just …
@neilturkewitz
Neil Turkewitz on bluesky
“The Senate killed a controversial effort to prevent US states from regulating AI, marking a loss for the Silicon Valley leaders & White House officials who pushed the measure. Senators voted 99-1to strip the language out of Trump's tax legislation.” — 99-1!!! — www.bloomber…
@austinahlman
Austin Ahlman on x
disgust with big tech is a supermajority issue, especially in the AI era. this is part of why I have so much disdain for a certain columnist-driven political movement that is largely acting as a trojan horse for an industry that any self-respecting party would be running against
@mikeisaac
Rat King on x
think tech might've gotten a bit over its skis on this one https://www.nytimes.com/... [image]
@ednewtonrex
Ed Newton-Rex on x
This is incredible news - the US Senate rejected a pause on state-level AI regulation by 99-1. Big tech, and its advocates drafting various countries' AI policy, can be beaten. UK politicians should take note. https://www.theverge.com/... [image]
@americans4ri
@americans4ri on x
The moratorium just got taken out of the budget bill in a LANDSLIDE vote. 99 to 1. Incredible. Thank you to the lawmakers, the children's advocates, the artists and creators, the voters, the labor groups, and everyone who spoke out against the harmful AI law moratorium. [image]
@senwarren
Elizabeth Warren on x
Big Tech companies snuck a line into the Republican bill that'd stop local and state governments from having ANY rules about AI for TEN YEARS. But we fought back — and won! This fight is not over, but we are not powerless.
@repmtg
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on x
I told the White House I couldn't support the One Big Beautiful Bill with the AI moratorium inside. Banning states from regulating AI for 10 years is a gift to Big Tech and a disaster for American workers and states' rights. Thanks to Senator @MarshaBlackburn, we got it OUT. [vid…
@repmtg
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on x
10 year AI moratorium on states is dead in the Senate version of the OBBB. Federalism is preserved and humans are safe for now. Thank you @MarshaBlackburn for killing that insanity with a 99-1 vote!!
@willoremus
Will Oremus on x
In a stunning reversal, the Senate voted 99-1 this morning to strip from Trump's big bill a 10-year moratorium on state-level AI regulations. The landslide came after Sen. @MarshaBlackburn abandoned a deal with @tedcruz to support a pared-back, 5-year pause. [image]
@charliebul58993
Charlie Bullock on x
AI safety ecosystem maybe needs to reckon harder with how it keeps winning every single major policy fight. @ShakeelHashim 😉
@adamconner
@adamconner on x
The Senate voted 99-1 to remove the state AI pause from the reconciliation bill, a rebuke so complete even the provision's champion in the Senate, Ted Cruz, voted to remove it. A wake up call to Silicon Valley on how unpopular their preferred AI policy is. https://www.bloomberg.c…
@anthonyadragna
Anthony Adragna on x
.@MarshaBlackburn on the floor overnight on AI moratorium “I regret that we weren't able to come to a compromise.” But “this body has proven that they cannot legislate on emerging technology.” https://subscriber.politicopro.com/ ...
@garymarcus
Gary Marcus on x
Breaking: for once (and hopefully this endures) an incredible victory for humanity over the selfish and unreasonable lobbying of big tech.
@encodeaction
@encodeaction on x
The AI Moratorium has been stripped out of the Big Beautiful Bill in an overwhelming 99-1 vote. We thank Senator @MarshaBlackburn, kids online safety advocates, civil society organizations, and hundreds of grassroots volunteers that came together to stop this. [image]
@chadpergram
Chad Pergram on x
Senate votes 99-1 to strike state/local AI moratorium from the Big, Beautiful Bill. One nay vote was Tillis
@dareasmunhoz
Diego Areas Munhoz on x
NEWS: The Senate has removed AI moratorium from the reconciliation bill in a whopping 99-1 vote. Deals a massive blow to the effort to make this happen in the GOP package
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