By FOCUS, A Leonine Business
2025 has seen the Republican stance on artificial intelligence (AI) coming to form, chiefly that Republicans in Congress and in the White House have repeatedly attempted to block states from passing or enforcing AI laws, aiming to attach preemption language to federal legislation, barring states from doing any regulating on their own. They believe a national “patchwork” of different standards and laws around the U.S. would slow innovation with AI. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has made his personal stance on only supporting “light-touch” AI regulation and noting any heavier regulation as “European”. Senator Cruz spearheaded the original plan over the summer that would have initially shut states with AI laws out of the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program in the One Big Beautiful Bill before it passed earlier this year. Cruz faced pushback from both Republicans and Democrats and eventually that provision was removed from the bill in the 11th hour.
NDAA Attempt:
Congress tried again to bring a federal AI state law preemption into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in November. Republican President Donald Trump openly praised the move and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, stated it was a move widely praised by GOP leadership. However, just last week (December 4) House Majority Leader Scalise announced that the NDAA was no longer the place for the federal preemption language, and it was again removed. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, stated on social media that it was “a terrible provision and should REMAIN out”.
The Coming White House Executive Order:
The White House has now decided governing by executive order (EO) could be the way to go as several news outlets have recently reported that the Trump administration is weighing a sweeping EO that would restrict state authority over artificial intelligence. The draft order, titled “Eliminating State Law Obstruction of National AI Policy,” would replace existing state AI laws with one single federal framework. Rationale contained in the EO says that a fragmented regulatory environment exists that threatens U.S. competitiveness and pointed to recent laws like those enacted in Colorado (SB 205) that implement over-burdensome transparency and safeguard mandates for high-risk AI systems.
Key provisions of the EO include:
- AI Litigation Task Force: Proposes that the Justice Department launch a dedicated AI Litigation Task Force to challenge state laws in federal court.
- Identifying Conflicting State Laws: Federal agencies, including the Commerce Department, FTC and FCC, would be charged with identifying existing state laws that have conflicting requirements before developing national disclosure and consumer-protection standards that could override state mandates and possibly be tied to grants.
- Establish the American AI Exports Program: The Secretary of Commerce would establish and implement the American AI Exports Program to support the development and deployment of United States full-stack AI export packages.
Whether the administration ultimately pursues preemption through legislation, executive power, or both, the outcome will shape not only how AI is governed but also how states assert their role in protecting consumers and fostering innovation as we head into 2026.
FOCUS will continue to monitor AI policy developments across the country.
by Alexis Caswell 12/8/25
