Trump's AI regulation plan blocked by Congress, White House prepares to launch Plan B

[BlockBeats] On December 5, it was reported that the Trump administration’s plan to suppress state-level AI legislation at the federal level had hit a wall in Congress. This setback has made the next move for White House AI affairs chief David Sacks even more delicate.

Congress directly rejected the relevant provisions in the annual National Defense Authorization Act, but it is clear that Washington is not ready to give up. Three sources close to the decision-making process revealed that the executive order discussed internally in November has resurfaced—with a very clear goal: to nullify state-level AI regulations at the federal level.

The previously leaked draft of the order was quite aggressive: it required the Department of Justice to set up a dedicated litigation team within 30 days to directly challenge state AI laws. Whether the relaunched version retains these tough measures is still uncertain. However, judging from the White House’s stance, this tug-of-war over AI regulatory authority is far from over.