According to Business Insider, President Donald Trump is reigniting a Republican civil war over AI regulation with a Tuesday Truth Social post calling for “one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes.” His administration is reportedly drafting an executive order allowing the DOJ to sue states over their AI rules, while House Republicans are considering attaching a version of this provision to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act. The move immediately drew fire from prominent Republicans including Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ron DeSantis, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who argue states must retain regulatory power. This repeats a summer fight where a 10-year moratorium on state AI regulation was stripped from the “Big Beautiful Bill” in a 99-1 Senate vote in July after contentious debate.
The GOP’s AI civil war continues
Here’s the thing about this fight – it’s not really new. Republicans have been deeply divided on tech regulation for years, and AI is just the latest battleground. On one side, you’ve got the “national competitiveness” crowd that worries about China and wants uniform federal standards. On the other, you’ve got the states’ rights conservatives who believe local governments should be able to protect their citizens. And neither side is backing down.
What’s fascinating is who’s lining up where. You’ve got Ron DeSantis calling this a “subsidy to Big Tech” that would prevent states from protecting against everything from online censorship to predatory apps targeting children. Meanwhile, Sarah Huckabee Sanders is leading 20 states in opposition, telling Trump to “drop the preemption plan now and protect our kids and communities.” These aren’t exactly moderate Republicans – they’re core Trump allies. So why are they fighting him on this?
What’s really at stake here
Basically, this comes down to power and money. The pro-preemption argument says having 50 different AI regulations would cripple innovation and hand China an advantage. But the states’ rights crowd sees something else – they’re watching what’s happening with social media and privacy, and they don’t trust Washington or Silicon Valley to get AI right.
Think about it: if states can’t regulate AI, who fills the void? The federal government moves slowly, and in the absence of comprehensive federal AI legislation, that could mean essentially no meaningful regulation at all. For governors who are dealing with real AI issues in their states – from deepfake election interference to algorithmic discrimination – that’s unacceptable.
The NDAA angle is particularly clever though. As Punchbowl News reports, attaching this to the defense bill makes it much harder to oppose. Nobody wants to vote against military funding. But it also means we could see this fight play out in the coming weeks as the defense bill moves forward.
Who wins in this fight?
If Trump gets his way, the clear winners are Big Tech companies who would face a much simpler regulatory landscape. Instead of complying with potentially stricter rules in California, New York, or Illinois, they’d have one federal standard that’s almost certainly more industry-friendly.
But here’s the twist – this isn’t just about corporate interests. There’s a genuine philosophical divide here about the role of states in our federal system. When Marjorie Taylor Greene and Josh Hawley are on the same side against their own party’s leadership, you know something interesting is happening. It suggests that for all the talk of Republican unity, there are still fundamental disagreements about how government should work.
The timing couldn’t be more critical either. With AI advancing at breakneck speed and states already passing their own AI laws, this fight will determine whether we get a coordinated national approach or continue with the current patchwork. And given how divided Congress is on tech issues, I’m not holding my breath for that comprehensive federal legislation anytime soon.
