Connect with us

Congress

Anthony Foxx says safety regs shouldn’t be feared in making way for innovation

Published

on

We’re chatting with former Cabinet members, chiefs of staff and government leaders from now to Jan. 20 to get a sense of what the incoming administration might face as it takes the reins.

Today we’re talking to Anthony Foxx, who served as Transportation secretary during the Obama administration and before that was mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. These days, he’s thinking about leadership in his role as co-director of Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership. He’s continued to advise Transportation folks and recently met with current Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The following interview is edited for length and clarity.

What advice do you have for the next Cabinet secretary?

Get to know the place and especially the people. There is a lot of important institutional memory in the agency, especially in the realm of safety. You may not always agree with their recommendations, but the input always proved helpful.

What’s one thing you didn’t know that you wish you did before you got into the job?

The Office Information and Regulatory Affairs can refuse to accept well-constructed rules if they so choose, creating the perception that the Department of Transportation is not moving fast enough to adopt safety rules.

What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing the next department?

The perception that safety regulations stand in the way of innovation. In emergent transportation technologies, such as driverless cars and drones, the Department of Transportation has the opportunity to provide clarity and certainty, which can enable innovation to be integrated into the transportation system safely.

Where did you go to have a meltdown?

There is no place to hide. Just remember how much you and your own family depend on a safe, efficient transportation system and treat your task with the same level of care and concern each day.

Want more? Another former Transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, says he found serenity in Peoria.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Congress

Another DHS funding vote coming to House floor

Published

on

Speaker Mike Johnson is planning to put a stalled Homeland Security funding bill on the House floor a third time next week, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss private plans, as the GOP moves to further pressure Democrats to end the five-week closure.

Two versions of the bill have already passed the House, each time with just a few House Democrats breaking from party lines to back it. But the bill is still held up in the Senate, where Democrats have refused to approve DHS funding without adding new restrictions on immigration enforcement.

The House will also vote on a resolution next week in support of DHS workers, including TSA officers who have gone without pay as the spring break travel crush stresses U.S. airports.

Continue Reading

Congress

House GOP leaders punt controversial FISA vote to April

Published

on

House GOP leaders are punting a reauthorization vote for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that they had hoped to hold next week until mid-April, with a GOP hard-liner revolt over warrantless surveillance threatening to tank the legislation, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter granted anonymity to discuss the conference dynamics.

GOP leaders are still dealing with a dozen or so Republican members who want reforms to the spy powers extension, as Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to pass a clean, 18-month extension without any changes. President Donald Trump has also asked for the clean extension.

Johnson and GOP leaders will instead work through the remaining issues over the upcoming two-week recess and try to put the extension on the floor the week of April 14, the people said.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and a group of ultraconservatives have warned GOP leaders that the reauthorization would fail if Johnson tried to push it through next week.

Another House Republican told Blue Light News there was “no way” a rule to advance a clean FISA extension would pass next week.

Johnson can lose only two votes on a rule to advance the measure, and already a handful of GOP hard-liners have told Blue Light News they would oppose it.

The FISA reauthorization deadline is April 20, and the delay leaves barely any time for the Senate to act.

Continue Reading

Congress

White House sends blueprint for national AI rules to Congress

Published

on

The White House on Friday published a long-awaited policy wishlist for artificial intelligence regulation that it hopes Congress will codify into law.

The light-touch federal framework blends the Trump administration’s effort to create a national AI rulebook on issues like political bias within models and reducing barriers to innovation with protections for children and teens online.

It urges Congress to overrule state AI laws that the administration says “impose undue burdens,” in favor of the “minimally burdensome” federal law that it’s recommending. The Trump administration has been trying to establish preemption over state AI laws using Congress and executive order for roughly a year, arguing that the patchwork of laws harms AI innovation.

The blueprint explicitly calls on Congress to preempt any state laws that regulate the way models are developed or that penalize companies for the way their AI is used by others, and instructs U.S. lawmakers not to create any new federal agencies to regulate AI.

It also outlines some areas where the federal government’s laws wouldn’t overrule those of the states, and asks Congress to allow states to keep laws that protect children, including those that ban AI-generated child sexual abuse material.

Trump administration officials have sought to gather support from Republican lawmakers for a light-touch approach to AI regulation in recent months. It’s unlikely, however, to receive bipartisan support in Congress.

Continue Reading

Trending