This week in governance
From AI to court reform.
Good morning! If it’s Friday, it’s time to dig into what your representatives in Washington got done this week — with a focus on bipartisan legislation that advanced. The House was on recess this week, which is why it’s a Senate-heavy issue. But there’s a lot in here, on hot-button issues from AI to court reform. Let’s dive in!
CHILD ONLINE SAFETY
Decades have passed since either chamber of Congress passed a major piece of legislation regulating the tech industry — even though, in that time, tech companies have intertwined themselves in almost every aspect of our daily lives. That streak ended this week, when the Senate passed the bipartisan Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act in a sweeping 91-3 vote.
If enacted, the measure would significantly increase online protections for children, creating a legal “duty of care” that would require social media platforms to take “reasonable” steps to shield children from harms including suicide, eating disorders, drug addiction, and sexual exploitation. The bill would also require that social media sites turn on their strongest privacy settings for minors by default, prohibit companies from collecting personal information or using targeted advertising for users under 16, and give parents increased ability to monitor their kids’ social media activity.
Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) were the lone opponents of the legislation; each of them raised free speech concerns and warned that the bill would lead to government censorship.
Despite the bill’s lopsided support in the Senate, it faces an uncertain path in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has said that he supports the “purpose” of the measure, but Punchbowl News has reported that the House GOP is not expected to bring the bill to a vote in its current vote.
PERMITTING REFORM
This is another issue that has bedeviled lawmakers for years, as both the clean energy and fossil fuel industries have called on Congress to shorten what is currently a years-long timeline for energy projects to receive federal approval. The Energy Permitting Reform Act, authored by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY), is a compromise with provisions to make both types of companies happy, while boosting America’s overall energy production.
For example, as I noted last week, the measure would make it easier to build long-distance transmission lines, which are required to transition the U.S. to a clean-electricity economy. At the same time, it would also accelerate certain oil and gas projects and roll back the Biden administration’s pause on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, which was overturned by a federal judge last month.
This “all-of-the-above” energy approach succeeded in notching the bill bipartisan support in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which approved the measure in a 15-4 vote this week. Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) were the holdouts.
The bill’s sponsors are hoping to bring the measure to the Senate floor for a final vote in the “lame duck” session after the November elections.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Bipartisan AI bills have been all the rage in Congress for months now — but this week saw some of the most significant measures yet to advance out of committee.
Among other bipartisan measures, the Senate Commerce Committee approved the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which would criminalize the publication of non-consensual, AI-generated sexually explicit deepfakes, and the CREATE AI Act, which would establish a cloud computing resource to democratize development and use of AI.
The panel also OK’d bills regarding the intersection of AI and small businesses and schools, and measures geared at creating AI standards, fueling AI innovation, improving AI testing, and creating an AI public awareness program.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee, meanwhile, approved the bipartisan PREPARED for AI Act, which requires government contracts for AI to take data ownership, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy into account.
EXPANDING THE JUDICIARY
The Senate unanimously passed the JUDGES Act, which would create 63 new district court judgeships over the next 11 years. If enacted, it would be the first comprehensive judicial expansion approved by Congress in more than 30 years, aimed at addressing the glaring backlog of cases in the district courts.
ALZHEIMER’S RESEARCH
The Senate unanimously passed the NAPA Reauthorization Act and Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act, which would reauthorize funding for Alzheimer’s research.
BALD EAGLES
OK, let’s close with a fun one. Many people assume that the bald eagle is America’s national bird — at least one federal agency even calls it that on their website. But, in reality, the bald eagle has never officially been designated as such. This week, the Senate passed a bill that would formally grant bald eagles the recognition they’ve long been assumed to have.
OH, AND…
The week wouldn’t be complete without a bipartisan failure as well. The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, the bipartisan deal to expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and extend a trio of corporate tax breaks, failed to advance in the Senate by a 48-44 vote. The measure was approved by the House in a sweeping 357-70 vote in January, but did not have the same level of GOP buy-in in the Senate, where most Republicans said they preferred to wait until after the election to address the looming tax cliff.
Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) were the sole Republican “yea” votes.
More news to know
AP: US added just 114,000 jobs in July, unemployment rate hits 4.3% as interest rates take economic toll
NYT: Harris Begins Final Phase of Accelerated V.P. Search
Axios: Signs point to Shapiro
CNN: Harris campaign says it raised $310 million in July, doubling Trump’s haul
NPR: Lebanese foreign minister says only the U.S. can prevent an all-out war
Reuters: US recognizes Maduro’s opponent as winner in Venezuela election
Politico: Trump’s attacks haven’t changed since 2016. Democrats are trying a new defense.
The day ahead
Biden: The president will travel to Wilmington, Delaware, where he will spend the weekend.
Harris: The VP has nothing on her schedule.
Trump/Vance: The GOP ticket has no events.
Congress: The House and Senate are on recess until September.
Secret Service: Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe will hold the agency’s first press conference since the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at 2 p.m. ET. Watch here
Before I go…
If you watch one thing this morning, I highly recommend you take a few minutes to watch Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, ex-Marine Paul Whelan, and Radio Free Europe journalist Alsu Kurmasheva reunite with their families last night after the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War.
On a human level, it is a beautiful moment as three people who were wrongfully held in Russian custody return to U.S. soil. On a broader level, the moment speaks volumes about America’s place in the world. As part of the swap — which was conceived of and engineered by American officials — the U.S. also secured the release of seven Russian political prisoners who were jailed by Vladimir Putin’s regime for opposition to the Ukraine war. In exchange, Putin received, among others, the freedom of Vadim Krasikov, the notorious Russian hitman who had been imprisoned in Germany.
Putin secured the freedom of a hitman. The U.S. secured the freedom of political activists who don’t even have any connection to the U.S. — they are Russia’s own citizens, and yet it fell to the U.S. to negotiate their release from Russia. What a powerful statement.
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