Asger Risom
The MAGA movement is once again divided over artificial intelligence — and this time, the fight is escalating inside the Republican Party.
The MAGA movement is once again divided over artificial intelligence — and this time, the fight is escalating inside the Republican Party.
President Donald Trump has revived an effort to stop states from regulating AI, calling state-level rules a threat to innovation and urging the creation of “one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes.” His post on Truth Social this week echoed language from the administration’s earlier attempt to curb state AI authority, a move that sparked a major Republican revolt over the summer.
A draft executive order viewed by Business Insider shows the White House preparing to go even further. The order would empower the Justice Department to sue states with “onerous” AI laws and direct federal agencies to explore ways to block or override them.
A White House official said any talk of executive orders remains speculative until formally announced.
Republicans push back over states’ rights
Still, the leaked draft immediately reignited a familiar war inside the GOP. The Republican-led push for federal preemption surfaced in early versions of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” earlier this year, only to be stripped out in a 99–1 Senate vote after opponents — including several Republicans — revolted.
Lawmakers who fought the proposal before are already gearing up again.
“States must retain the right to regulate and make laws on AI,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X. “Federalism must be preserved.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, one of Congress’s most vocal Republicans on AI safety, warned that attaching the measure to the National Defense Authorization Act — an option GOP leaders are now openly weighing — would create “a huge problem.”
Governors warn of ‘subsidy to Big Tech’
Even Republican governors who typically align with Trump are pushing back. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said stripping states of regulatory power amounts to “a subsidy to Big Tech,” arguing it would prevent local governments from responding to AI-enabled censorship, child-targeting apps, intellectual-property violations, and the strain of data centers on power and water systems.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who previously rallied 20 states against the moratorium, urged Republicans to abandon the effort. “Drop the preemption plan now and protect our kids and communities,” she wrote.
Republican leaders argue national rules are needed
Proponents of federal control — including several House GOP leaders — argue that a fragmented legal landscape threatens U.S. competitiveness, particularly against China. They also contend that uniform rules would help nurture the AI sector by giving companies a clear national standard.
Trump himself signaled support for placing the provision in the NDAA, saying it would ensure that “nobody will ever be able to compete with America.”
But opponents say the absence of federal legislation is precisely why states must be allowed to regulate AI — and that federal preemption would leave the public exposed to deepfakes, fraud, unsafe algorithms, and predatory uses of the technology.
With both chambers preparing to advance the must-pass defense bill, Republicans are once again headed for a collision over who gets to govern AI: Washington or the states.
Sources: X.com, Business Insider
