Schatz, colleagues introduce legislation to repeal Trump’s AI Moratorium

US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaiʻi) led a group of six senators in introducing the Guaranteeing and Upholding Americans’ Right to Decide Responsible AI Laws and Standards (GUARDRAILS) Act to repeal President Trump’s executive order seeking to prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence.

The Trump administration renewed its call for a preemption of state-level AI laws as part of its National AI Policy Framework which was released last week.

“Embracing the amazing possibilities of AI can’t come at the cost of leaving Americans vulnerable to its profound risks, which is exactly what President Trump’s Executive Order tries to do,” said Schatz, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. “Discouraging states from enacting common-sense regulation that protects people from potential AI harms is dangerous. Congress has a responsibility to get this technology right, but states must not be penalized for acting in the public interest in the meantime.”

A White House news release said, “Importantly, this framework can succeed only if it is applied uniformly across the United States. A patchwork of conflicting state laws would undermine American innovation and our ability to lead in the global AI race.”

The GUARDRAILS Act would prohibit the executive order issued in December 2025 from taking effect so that states do not have federal funds withheld for enacting commonsense safeguards around AI, according to the senators.

In addition to Schatz, the bill is cosponsored by US Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.). Companion legislation was introduced in the US House of Representatives by US Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), and April McClain Delaney (D-Md.).

The text of the legislation is available here.