Congress

White House’s Anthropic move jolts Congress back into the AI debate

Published

3 months ago

June 17, 2026

The Trump administration’s sudden moves to rein in Anthropic are giving fresh momentum to efforts in Congress to impose guardrails on cutting-edge artificial intelligence models.

Lawmakers are still seeking clear information about the government’s decision late Friday to impose an export ban on the AI company’s latest models, known as Fable 5 and Mythos 5, over cybersecurity concerns — a move that led Anthropic to suspend access to both for all users.

In roughly a dozen interviews on Capitol Hill this week, several lawmakers said they were shocked by the development and had yet to receive a formal briefing from administration officials. Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas), whose committee has jurisdiction over AI policy, said Monday that he had seen “what’s been reported in the press,” but had not been briefed on details.

Members of both parties said they now see an opening to mobilize their colleagues around legislation that would reclaim congressional authority at a time when the executive branch remains firmly in the drivers’ seat on AI regulation.

But lawmakers have struggled to reach consensus on a complicated and politically divisive matter in an election year. And the circumstances around the Anthropic saga could further drive a wedge between Democrats, who generally favor strong regulatory review requirements of new AI models, and Republicans, who tend to be wary of such a heavy hand.

“I think we’re landing more and more in a place where everybody’s realizing you need some type of government oversight,” said Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) in an interview Tuesday. “I think we’re still struggling with what that is.”

Disagreements over policy are being exacerbated by Democrats’ wariness to legislate on AI in a GOP-controlled Washington ahead of the midterm elections, with some viewing a potential House majority as their best opportunity to enact AI rules more closely aligned with Democratic priorities. Some Democratic lawmakers said this week that the Anthropic episode was just the latest example of the Trump administration’s erratic decision-making.

“I think this is an indicator that this administration no longer believes in a free market,” said Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who is in line to be the No. 2 Senate Democrat in the next Congress. “They believe in picking winners and losers.”

The administration’s decision regarding Anthropic came two weeks after Trump signed an executive order establishing a voluntary vetting regime that asks AI companies to submit their advanced models to the government 30 days before they are released to the public.

“If even this … administration is suddenly saying this is a security risk, why are we allowing these entities to put this out without testing?” asked Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Anthropic’s relationship with the White House has been strained since a standoff with the Defense Department earlier this year, when the Pentagon labeled Anthropic a supply-chain risk. While the unveiling of Anthropic’s latest model Mythos prompted the government to soften its stance toward the company, last week’s events signalled the repair may have been superficial.

“If Donald Trump thinks we need export controls on Anthropic, then how about putting export controls on the computer chips that will let China build their own version of Anthropic?” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), said Tuesday in an interview.

When asked to rate the chances of Congress passing legislation to set federal standards for AI regulations, she replied, “It would be high if it weren’t for Donald Trump.”

This all comes as Washington was already grappling with the larger question of how to regulate the AI industry to ensure the safety of models, and whether it should be up to states or the federal government to set those guardrails. The Commerce Committee in the coming weeks is expected to consider a slate of AI bills, including potentially one that would require social media platforms to put mechanisms in place to protect users who are minors.

Some members of Congress are trying to work across the aisle on the issue despite the steep odds. In the House, Reps. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) and Lori Trahan (D-Calif.) last month unveiled a broad AI legislative framework that folds in preemption of state AI laws. Trahan, who has broken with House Democratic leadership in pursuing a bipartisan path on AI, seized on the Anthropic news to urge congressional action.

“This decision further illustrates the need for a thoughtful and durable national strategy on AI,” she posted on X. “Decisions this consequential shouldn’t turn on a single directive issued at 5 pm on a Friday. They should follow rules that are clear, fair, grounded in technical facts, and built to last beyond any one administration.”

Trahan’s spokesperson, in a statement Tuesday, said, “Whether the decision by the administration was political or actually based on a real threat posed … it underscores the fact that Congress must act urgently and in a bipartisan fashion.”

The Trahan-Obernolte proposal would stop short of calling for a mandatory review system for new frontier AI models, however, which could become difficult in the post-Anthropic era.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), who is co-chair of the House Democratic Commission on AI, said in an interview that the Trump administration last week “ma[d]e it clear the importance of actually mandatory reviews when it comes to government reviews, when it comes to models and national security-related issues.”

“If there were a piece of legislation for a mandatory review,” he added, “I’d certainly support that.”

Sen. Todd Young of Indiana offered a measured response to the events of the last several days, saying the Senate Commerce Committee, of which he is a member, would work to try to get answers. He added that the recent developments could “conceivably” propel lawmakers to work together on legislation that would establish a system to review new models.

“You don’t want to just be trusting private actors to do the right thing and trusting their judgment, because the risk we’re talking about here could conceivably be catastrophic,” Young said, adding, “I think everyone wants to get this right.”

Gabby Miller contributed to this report.

Congress

Gallego grades Democrats on their midterm messaging to men

Published

2 hours ago

September 25, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Democrats are finally catching on to how to talk to young male voters in the lead-up to the midterms, but the party can still up its game, one battleground senator and potential 2028er said Friday.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has been one of his party’s most outspoken critics on its handling of outreach to young men, who swung right and helped deliver the White House and both chambers of Congress to Republicans in 2024.

The party is now “definitely moving in the right direction,” Gallego said Friday.

“Like back in the day, I was like the only one,” putting out positions on men, Gallego said at a Washington event on young American men. “Now, like, it seems like everyone every week is coming out with a new position, new idea, which is great.”

Gallego has criticized Democrat’s failure to highlight mens’ struggles and their tendency to over-police mens’ ideas. But there are signs the political winds have shifted in his party’s favor.

A new Cygnal poll released with the event of men ages 18-30 who say they’re the most determined to vote revealed Democrats’ generic ballot lead over Republicans at 57%-40%, Blue Light News reported. The poll also said nearly 40 percent of respondents said they feel their lives are off track.

“We need to take the opportunity to invest in that portion of this country, to say that we care about them and actually try to change the trajectory of what’s happening with men in this country,” Gallego said at the symposium.

Still, the path for specific legislation targeting the needs of this demographic faces an incredibly tight calendar this Congress and is uncertain in the political landscape of next year.

A proposal from Gallego and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) to establish a men’s health office within the Department of Health and Human Services, for example, has not advanced. Nor has bipartisan legislation from Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who also spoke at the event, targeting education outcomes, college investment transparency and dyslexic student support.

Congress

Bipartisan Russia hawks urge Trump to pull Putin invite to G20 summit

Published

2 hours ago

September 25, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

A bipartisan group of 14 senators urged President Donald Trump to rescind his invitation for Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the Group of 20 summit in Miami in December.

The letter, whose bipartisan signers were led by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chair of the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee, came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the invitation on Wednesday.

“President Putin bears sole responsibility for launching Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine,” the senators wrote in the letter. “Allowing him to participate in a G20 Summit in the United States raises serious concerns about legitimizing and normalizing a government that continues to attack Ukrainian civilian targets every day.”

The senators also noted that the U.S. has sanctioned Putin, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and others in the Russian delegation. If the U.S. does not join in isolating Russia on the world stage, Putin may not feel motivated to pursue a ceasefire and further negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, they wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment on Friday.

The letter surfaced following Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington that concluded Friday.

During the summit, Xi said he will meet with Trump two more times this year, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November and again at the G20 summit. Trump subsequently confirmed on social media that he will attend the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China.

Putin is also set to attend the APEC summit in China, and there were talks of a trilateral meeting there, Reuters reported earlier this month.

The Russian presidential press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter or whether Putin has accepted Trump’s invitation.

Congress

Capitol agenda: Dems weigh doing Husted a solid

Published

11 hours ago

September 25, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Democrats have a decision to make about whether to grant a political favor to one of their most vulnerable Republican colleagues.

GOP leaders are expected to set up an initial vote Wednesday on legislation that would advise states on ensuring data centers pay for all their energy costs and grid updates. Democrats may discuss the matter at a weekly party lunch Tuesday, but so far haven’t had a caucus-wide conversation yet, several senators said in interviews.

The bill is being championed by Ohio GOP Sen. Jon Husted — who is facing a tough election bid against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. The measure easily passed the House last week with 206 Democratic votes, but campaign-season politics are making action trickier for the party in the Senate.

On one hand, voting to start debate on the bill could help keep Republicans off the campaign trail even longer and insulate Democrats against charges of politically motivated obstructionism.

On the other hand, a successful procedural vote could kick off an unpredictable amendment process and — as some Democrats see it — risk helping GOP leaders bail out an embattled candidate who has been inundated with data-center-themed campaign attacks.

“It’s an effort to rescue Husted’s campaign,” Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said in an interview, even as he acknowledged that he himself hasn’t yet made a call on how to vote.

Most in the party have yet to decide whether to lend their support, according to interviews with more than a dozen Senate Democrats and aides.

That includes in-cycle Jon Ossoff and known bipartisan dealmakers such as Jeanne Shaheen and Mark Warner, who all said Thursday they hadn’t made up their minds.

Sen. Peter Welch is so far the only Democrat to say he will support Husted’s bill, though he, like other Democrats, said “the bill didn’t go far enough.”

Sen. Brian Schatz, the Democrats’ deputy whip, said in an interview Thursday he found the bill “kind of weak” but that he didn’t have an announcement about whether party leaders would whip against it.

Two GOP senators, granted anonymity to describe private conversations, said that Republicans privately don’t expect the bill to get the votes needed to ultimately pass.

But Husted is keeping the pressure on Democrats publicly.

“They say they’re for more affordability,” he said. “This is a chance for everybody to prove it.”

What else we’re watching:

— JOHNSON, TRUMP SET MEETING WITH AI EXECS —- Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump will meet at the White House Tuesday with the executives of top artificial intelligence companies. Congress is under increasing pressure to put federal guardrails on AI development, but House GOP leaders continue to resist any major legislative action to address concerns. The speaker and president were in attendance at the state dinner Thursday night in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, as were OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. It was not immediately clear which of these executives would be invited to next week’s meeting, and who will be participating.

— SENATE GOP’S NOMS IN LIMBO: Senate Republicans’ hopes of getting several of Trump’s key nominees confirmed before they leave for midterm campaigning are still in limbo. The main GOP sticking point is Sen. Kevin Cramer’s blanket hold on nominations — including but not limited to Keith Sonderling for labor secretary — “pending a repeal of the Biden setback rule on fish and wildlife easements” in his state, the North Dakota Republican told Blue Light News. After weeks of a complete hold, Cramer lifted his blockade on some nominees after the Trump administration committed to reevaluating some of the Fish and Wildlife Service easements that restrict farming.

Jordain Carney, Amelia Davidson, Nico Portuondo, Mia McCarthy, Sophia Cai and Miranda Willson contributed to this report.