Democrats Plan Wave of AI and Data Centre Bills When They Take Control of Congress

The agenda would be a sharp break from the Republican-led Congress, which largely promoted AI development and passed no major restrictions on the industry. For AI companies, it means the first Congress in years with both the power and the stated intent to write binding rules, and the subpoena power to question their leaders in public.

The proposals fall into three main groups. One would protect consumers from rising electricity bills tied to data centres, a priority for Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader-designate. A second would require independent testing of advanced AI systems; Representative Lori Trahan of Massachusetts plans to push for leading models to be evaluated against safety standards. A third would clarify when AI companies can be held liable for harm caused by their systems.

Getting any of this into law will be difficult while President Donald Trump, who has dismissed mandatory AI rules, remains in office. Democrats could try to attach AI provisions to must-pass annual legislation, or assemble two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override a veto. Ed Mills of Raymond James told Reuters that "the probability of legislation is much higher than people anticipate."

Committee gavels will also give Democrats control of hearing agendas and the ability to compel testimony. Representative Greg Casar of Texas has said AI executives should testify under oath. Representative Zoe Lofgren of California, who is seeking to chair the House Science Committee, said Democrats would focus on "responsible regulations for AI while also fostering innovation." In October, Lofgren and other senior House Democrats asked OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Google and SpaceX to describe their security practices and report cases of AI tools acting in unintended ways.

Some incoming members want to go further. Abdul El-Sayed, the senator-elect from Michigan, has called for an independent agency to oversee AI. A Reuters poll in October found that most voters want the government to write new AI regulations.

The election results give the push some political cover. Candidates who favour stricter oversight of AI won in key congressional races, helped by a pro-regulation political funding group backed in part by Anthropic, after a midterm fight in which $110 million was spent, Bloomberg reported. Semafor reported that Public First Action, the Anthropic-affiliated group, spent $20 million in the general election with mixed results: candidates it backed who won included Representative Valerie Foushee of North Carolina and representatives-elect Brian Poindexter in Ohio, Manny Rutinel in Colorado and Scott Wiener in California, while the Republicans its network supported lost.

The industry-backed side also had wins and losses. Leading the Future spent $4.8 million supporting Republican Darline Graham in a South Carolina Senate race she lost to Democrat Annie Andrews, who had nicknamed her "Data Center Darline", according to Semafor. A spokesman for the group, Jesse Hunt, said many of the candidates it supported had won and that 2028 "will show who actually cares about passing a national regulatory framework on AI." Separately, about 40 local ballot measures restricting data centre development passed on Election Day.

Bills that do not pass in the current lame-duck session expire with this Congress, so the Democratic agenda will have to be reintroduced after the new Congress convenes in January.