(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she would not have supported the budget bill if she knew it had a clause that banned states from regulating artificial intelligence for 10 years.
Greene, R-Ga., said in a social media post she did not know the “big beautiful bill” contained the clause when she cast her vote.
“I am adamantly opposed to this and it is a violation of state rights and I would have voted no if I had known this was in there,” Greene said. “We have no idea what AI will be capable of in the next 10 years and giving it free rein and tying states’ hands is potentially dangerous. This needs to be stripped out in the Senate.”
Greene said she would not vote for the bill when it returns to the House unless the Senate removes the clause.
“We should be reducing federal power and preserving state power,” Greene said. “Not the other way around.”
State lawmakers are also speaking out about the clause. The bipartisan group Americans for Responsible Innovation released a letter Tuesday signed by 260 lawmakers representing all 50 states asking Congress to drop the preemption. Among the supporters, 130 are Republicans, 129 are Democrats and one is an independent.
“In an increasingly fraught digital environment, young people are facing new threats online, seniors are targeted by the emergence of AI-generated scams, and workers and creators face new challenges in an AI-integrated economy,” the lawmakers said in the letter. “Over the next decade, AI will raise some of the most important public policy questions of our time, and it is critical that state policymakers maintain the ability to respond.
Georgia Democratic Reps. Scott Holcomb, Tanya Miller and Sam Park signed along with Republican Reps. Todd Jones and Gary Richardson.
Two Tennessee senators signed – Republican Janice Bowling and Democrat Jeff Yarbro. Democratic House members Aftyn Behn and Jason Powell supported the letter along with Republican Bud Hulsey.
Tennessee state Sen. Bo Watson, R-Chattanooga, did not sign the letter but has publicly said he is hoping the U.S. Senate removes the clause.
“I appreciate the efforts of Congress trying to reign in spending,” Watson said in a social media post. “It’s not easy. I’m concerned with the 10-year moratorium on the states’ ability to regulate artificial intelligence included in the Big Beautiful Bill – it’s federal overreach.”
