Plurk paste

The House measure could die in the Senate under the Byrd rule, a procedural mechanism that allows Senators to strike language deemed extraneous to legislation. The IAPP’s Zweifel-Keegan noted that while the moratorium may be challenged under the Byrd rule, it would appear that House Republicans are setting up an argument to evade it.

Here, though not explicit in the text itself, the committee appears to be setting up the argument that a moratorium on the enforcement of complex and diverging state AI laws will facilitate the Department of Commerce’s acquisition of AI systems. Though critics will see this as contrived, the logical connection here seems to be that the federal government is unable to modernize systems effectively and efficiently if the spread of commercially available AI is slowed by a patchwork of state AI laws.

Rep. Obernolte made a similar argument during the hearing.

If the moratorium were to pass in both the full House and the Senate and ultimately become law, it may face legal challenges, including from attorneys general from states where AI laws have been enacted. But it is unclear whether such a challenge would succeed.