House Democrats Form AI Commission on Innovation, AI Guardrails

The House Democratic commission will work through 2026 to shape policy and consider safeguards as states and Trump consider their own guardrails on AI.

ChatGPT app icon on a smartphone screen in Chicago on Aug. 4, 2025. AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File

House Democratic leaders are forming a new commission to shape their approach to artificial intelligence (AI) and the broader innovation economy, saying Congress must both foster U.S. leadership in AI and guard against potential harms.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) announced on Dec. 9 the launch of the House Democratic Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy, which will convene throughout 2026. The commission will “develop policy expertise in partnership with the innovation community, relevant stakeholders, and committees of jurisdiction,” according to a release from his office.

Caucus Vice Chair Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), and Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.) will serve as co-chairs. Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) will serve as ex officio co-chairs.

Democrats who served on a Bipartisan AI Task Force last Congress will hold key roles, and all members of the House Democratic Caucus will be invited to participate, the release said. That task force produced a December 2024 report that outlined 66 key findings and 89 recommendations, and urged Congress to promote AI innovation while protecting against AI risks and harms.

Jeffries said the commission is an effort to keep U.S. companies competitive while answering public concerns about the fast-changing technology.

“The brilliance and ingenuity of the innovation community has positioned America to lead the world in artificial intelligence and pioneer potentially life-changing breakthroughs in medicine and other fields of human endeavor that will benefit humanity. It is important that American companies continue to thrive in this area,” he said.

He added that policies are needed to prevent bad actors from exploiting the technology and harming Americans.

“House Democrats are ready, willing and able to lean into those issues so we can uplift the health, safety and economic well-being of the American people,” he said.

Lofgren said the commission is intended in part to keep Democratic members engaged with experts as AI tools and business models evolve.

“AI is a transformational technology,” Lofgren said. “It has the potential to make the lives of everyday Americans profoundly better. However, it also carries with it risks. Policymakers in Congress need to educate themselves about this game changing technology so that we can have informed debates about the issues that surround it.”

Pallone said he wants Democrats to draw on work in the states rather than pursuing broad restrictions on AI development.

Republicans have also taken part in the bipartisan work in the House and passed recent AI legislation. In 2024, House leaders from both parties created a 24-member Bipartisan Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, chaired by Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) and co-chaired by Lieu.

Republicans this year also set up their own internal venue to work on AI and other emerging technologies. In April, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) launched an Emerging Technologies Task Force, chaired by Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.), with Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) as vice chair, to lead the group’s policy work on AI, blockchain, biotech, and related fields.

RSC leaders said when launching the task force earlier this year that they would work with industry to identify challenges and advance legislation they argue will keep the United States a global leader in emerging tech while protecting national security and economic strength.

Trump earlier this year signed a bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act, a law that targets nonconsensual intimate images and AI-generated deepfakes and requires covered platforms to remove such content when victims report it.

A day before Democrats announced the new commission, Trump said he planned to issue an executive order to create a single federal standard for AI and curb states’ ability to set their own rules. He has argued that separate state approval regimes would slow development and risk letting China gain an edge.

The move fits into a broader White House strategy that includes the AI Action Plan, which urges agencies to withhold some AI-related funding from states with what it calls burdensome regulations, and the “Genesis Mission,” a Manhattan Project–style initiative aimed at using federal data and supercomputing to accelerate AI-related research and national security work.

The push for a national “One Rulebook” has drawn criticism from state officials in both parties and from AI safety advocates. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has promoted an “AI Bill of Rights” focused on privacy and parental control and has warned that federal preemption would amount to a subsidy for large technology companies.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.