Here's One Issue Causing the Senate GOP to Shoot Inside the Ship

You know the three core items that the Trump White House seeks to codify in the ‘big, beautiful bill.’They want to make the Trump tax cuts permanent, fully fund immigration enforcement measures (i.e., the border wall), and implement much-needed work requirement provisions to welfare programs.

Trump's signature piece of legislation, which is currently undergoing the seven circles of legislative hell, was not helped by Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough's sharp critique of some core aspects of the bill; however, one provision survived the "Byrd bath." That doesn't mean it was immune to intraparty warfare. As it turns out, there's some shooting going on inside the ship among Senate Republicans. Specifically, around the provision spearheaded by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who is attempting to halt government regulation of artificial intelligence. Mr. Cruz's primary opponent isn't Chuck Schumer, it's Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) (via Punchbowl News):

Republican senators wrote to Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday asking him to yank the AI provision from the reconciliation package.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) led the letter, which was also signed by GOP Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Josh Hawley (Mo.). Blackburn has been quietly pushing back on the measure, which she worries will overrule her state’s approach to likeness rights in AI.
“Let’s take this out now and not have to deal with it on the floor,” Hawley told us.
There’s more Republican opposition too. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told us he’s also against Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) proposal, which would make states choose between regulating AI or accepting federal funding for AI infrastructure.
What’s next. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said he expects Hawley and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) to co-sponsor an amendment with Blackburn to strip the AI provision when the GOP reconciliation bill hits the floor. If they stick together, Hawley, Blackburn, Cramer and Paul plus all 47 Senate Democrats would be enough to defeat the measure on the floor.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is trying to stop states from regulating artificial intelligence in the GOP’s landmark tax-and-spending bill, but he’s meeting resistance from colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
A rare alliance is forming between Democrats and hardline Republicans who are working to imperil Cruz’s push as outside groups are lobbying senators and launching targeted messaging campaigns, setting the stage for a possible floor fight.
The AI moratorium — which Cruz has spent the last few weeks spearheading as chair of the powerful Senate Commerce, Finance and Transportation Committee — would only let states tap into the bill’s $500 million AI infrastructure fund if they forgo regulating the technology for the next 10 years. In Texas, a sweeping AI regulatory bill that Gov. Greg Abbott just signed into law would likely put this money in jeopardy.
Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee, has raised concerns that a loophole in the legislation would actually jeopardize states’ access to all $42 billion in broadband funding in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and other legislation, rather than the narrower $500 million pot. In a statement, she said the regulation would hold funding “hostage, forcing states to choose between protecting consumers and expanding critical broadband infrastructure to rural communities.”

The Texas Republican also wasn’t born yesterday.

Radical left-wing groups like the ACLU and the NAACP are actively fighting against this provision because they have one goal: they want this technology regulated by far-left politicians to advance their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goal of having AI tackle societal challenges and other issues that fall under the woke umbrella of social justice.

This AI moratorium will prevent Democrats, such as Gavin Newsom and Zohran Mamdani, New York City's Democratic mayoral candidate, who is likely to win, from dictating AI laws that apply to the entire country, including citizens of red states. If the AI provision is removed from the reconciliation bill, AI development, infrastructure, and technology will be required to comply with the laws of California and New York. And if there's one thing we know, it's that the nation should steer many thousands of miles away from following policies enacted in those states.

Yet, before Cruz, Blackburn, and Senate Democrats can have their 'pistols at dawn' moment over AI, we need to have that procedural vote. And then Chuck Schumer is going to demand the Senate read the entire bill before the vote-a-rama begins.

From colleague Dan Scully. GOP LA Den Kennedy on test vote to begin debate on. Big, Beautiful Bill:b“I predict it'll be a it'll be a tie, and JD will have to break it.”
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 28, 2025