Congress
House Democrats pitch AI tax to fund worker protections
Three Democratic House lawmakers unveiled legislation Thursday to tax artificial intelligence companies and use the proceeds to fund a jobs program aimed at offsetting AI’s impact on workers, marking one of Congress’ most ambitious efforts yet to redistribute the industry’s gains.
The AI Tax and Work Protection Act, championed by Reps. Greg Casar (Texas), Valerie Foushee (N.C.) and Sara Jacobs (Calif.), would impose a levy on AI developers to fund the program, which is dubbed the Work Protection Administration.
The bill comes amid a growing push from progressive lawmakers on Capitol Hill to tax AI companies. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced a similar bill in June, the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which would impose a one-time 50 percent tax on the stock of leading AI companies to be funneled into a sovereign wealth fund.
Leading AI companies would pay a tax on either the price of the tokens they sell or the revenue they generate selling their products, depending on which value is higher. The tax would also be increased if the unemployment rate rises.
“Right now, the federal government is doing nothing to protect workers from the threat of AI mass unemployment,” Casar said in a statement. “Our bill would protect American workers by making big AI companies pay their fair share.”
Vice President JD Vance fielded questions on Iran — lots of them — during a closed-door lunch with Senate Republicans Thursday.
Vance’s visit to Capitol Hill came as the Senate is trying to wrap up a massive to-do list ahead of a planned five-week recess — including unfinished work on a spending stopgap, Russia sanctions and cryptocurrency regulations, as well as possible votes on a party-line spending bill and the GOP elections legislation President Donald Trump desperately wants enacted.
But senators emerging from the lunch said the dominant topic was instead the administration’s ongoing negotiations with Iran over reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending months of hostilities that have put upward pressure on prices.
Some Republicans urged Vance to provide more transparency as polling shows that the conflict is unpopular with many Americans with the midterms just three months out.
“The vice president responded to questions, and a lot of the questions were about Iran,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.).
Kennedy said he suggested that Vance and other top administration officials go on TV or hold a news conference to explain what was happening and why.
Vance, according to multiple GOP senators, detailed how much damage the U.S. has done to Iran’s military since strikes began in February. Republicans said they also discussed the state of the Pentagon’s munitions stockpile during the lunch amid reports that some weapons are running low — something Trump denies — and as the administration pushes for a $1.5 trillion defense infusion.
“That was one of the things I wanted to talk about because I’m on Defense [appropriations],” said Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) when asked if there was a concern Congress wasn’t approving money fast enough. “We went through the impacts and timing and how they’re managing that. But they’re doing a good job.”
Trump announced earlier this month that a deal with Iran to reopen the strait, a vital global oil corridor, was imminent. Vance, according to the senators, said that the administration is “hoping” to get an agreement.
“But they have to trust and verify, not just trust — so verify whatever it is that they offer, and then maintain it,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.). “And if they back out, then we’re still right back in their face again.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Thursday he is leaving rehab to return home after a fall earlier this summer left him hospitalized.
In a statement, McConnell thanked the medical staff who helped him during his stay, but added that he will not be returning to Washington just yet.
“On the advice of my doctors, I’ll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period, and I’ll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business,” McConnell said.
McConnell, 84, was rushed to the hospital on June 14 following a fall and what he described as a “mild case of pneumonia.” He later told constituents that while he was briefly knocked unconscious, he did not suffer any broken bones, a stroke or a heart attack.
His absence from Congress has been met with frustrations about what some have called a lack of transparency. Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear last week demanded the senator resign if he couldn’t “directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky” with “proof of your capacity to serve.”
McConnell has suffered several health challenges in recent years, including a fall taken while leaving the Senate chamber that briefly left him using a wheelchair. He announced last year that he would not seek reelection at the end of his current term.
The Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday voiced its opposition to the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act that’s currently under consideration in the Senate, urging Democrats to block the bill until it “reflects the interests of Black athletes.”
In a statement, CBC Chair Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said that though the legislation has “evolved” from when Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) first introduced it, “fundamental concerns” remain.
The bill — which seeks to establish a single federal framework for name, image and likeness rights for athletes, limit conference expansions and grant collegiate sports a limited federal antitrust exemption — has already secured the backing of powerhouse conferences like the Big Ten and SEC.
But the stakes extend far beyond the playing field, Clarke said Thursday.
“Black athletes have transformed college athletics into one of the most successful enterprises in America. Yet the people most affected by this legislation have not been meaningfully included in shaping it,” Clarke said.
Most of the CBC are members of the House, but a handful of Black Democratic senators — Cory Booker (N.J.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.) and Angela Alsobrooks (Md.) — are also in the caucus.
Clarke added that the legislation would offer sweeping federal protections to powerful institutions that have remained silent at “the very moment that Black political representation is under attack across the country.”
It’s an argument the CBC made earlier this year, when its members came out against the SCORE Act — a separate bipartisan effort aimed at providing the NCAA renewed authority to regulate the collegiate athletic system. The CBC’s opposition helped sink that bill in the House, where caucus members’ support was considered crucial getting it over the finish line.
The caucus, made entirely of Democratic members, also expressed support for the NAACP’s call urging Black student athletes to avoid committing to top public athletic programs in Southern states as the redistricting battles in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Callais ruling continues.
Both the CBC and NAACP have emphasized that Black athletes serve as major economic divers for some of the nation’s top collegiate sports programs. A 2026 report from NCAA found that Black athletes accounted for nearly 16 percent of all the organization’s athletes during the 2024-25 school year, and 20 percent of all Division I student-athletes are Black.
Clarke on Thursday said Senate Democrats have a “responsibility” to ensure the legislation reflects the concerns of Black Americans, who have “done their part in strengthening and advancing our democracy.”
“Congress should not determine the economic future of Black athletes,” Clarke said, “without ensuring they and the communities they come from have a meaningful voice throughout the process.”
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