Republicans drop Trump-ordered block on state AI laws from defense bill

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said that a sect of Republicans is now “looking at other places” to potentially pass a federal measure that would block states from passing AI laws for a decade. Other Republicans opposed including the AI preemption in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). For months, President Trump has pressured the Republican-led Congress to block state AI laws that the president claims could bog down innovation as AI firms waste time and resources complying with a patchwork of state laws. But Republicans have continually failed to unite behind Trump’s command, first voting against including a similar measure in the “Big Beautiful” budget bill and then this week failing to negotiate a solution to pass the NDAA measure. Among Republican lawmakers pushing back this week were Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR), and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). According to Rep Scalise, the effort to block state AI laws is not over.