Overview

• Sen. Ted Cruz rewrote the original moratorium to satisfy the Senate’s Byrd Rule by conditioning BEAD broadband grants on states foregoing AI oversight for ten years
• The amended provision replaces a blanket moratorium with a funding trigger that bars states from regulating AI if they want federal broadband dollars
• Republican dissent is growing as Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Ron Johnson and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene pledge to oppose any bill containing the ban
• Speaker Mike Johnson and President Trump back the provision, but fractures run deep enough to jeopardize the bill’s narrow majority in both chambers
• Sen. Josh Hawley says he may file an amendment during the Senate’s voterama to strip out the AI ban if it is not removed beforehand