Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is postponing plans for his highly anticipated artificial intelligence and kids online safety markup as members scramble to reach agreement on various proposals.
The committee is now tentatively targeting a markup the week of Aug. 3, a committee aide confirmed Wednesday, approximately a week later than Cruz’s original plan.
The panel is eyeing the date of Aug. 5, but no decision has been made and multiple potential dates are under consideration, according to two people with knowledge of the matter granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Republican senators want to advance AI legislation this year, but that goal hinges largely on Cruz’s markup completion. And in recent weeks, panel members and aides have said they don’t know which bills Cruz will select for inclusion on the docket while the chairman continues soliciting input from members.
The delay further shortens senators’ runway to solidify plans, as members are scheduled to begin summer recess Aug. 7.
Cruz confirmed in an interview Wednesday he’s been talking to Senate Majority Leader John Thune “frequently” about the markup plans.
Cruz said earlier Wednesday the markup schedule was “still in flux” as the agenda comes together. Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said in an interview this week she had not been read-in on the agenda.
Democrats’ lack of suggestions for bills to be considered is part of the holdup, a Republican aide granted anonymity to talk freely said Wednesday, an idea that was dismissed by a Democratic aide speaking under the same terms.
Another reason for the delay, the first aide said, was to give more time to Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) who has been working on combining a bipartisan kids online safety bill with state AI law preemption provisions. Blackburn hit a setback this week when she failed to secure an endorsement on her forthcoming package from President Donald Trump after an Oval Office meeting with Cruz. Her office has not given further indication of her plans.
Thune told reporters Wednesday he was hoping Cruz would also be able to include his forthcoming bipartisan artificial intelligence bill with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn), but he was not optimistic a product would be ready in time.
“AI is a hot issue and one we care a lot about,” Thune said Wednesday.
Gabby Miller and Owen Dahlkamp contributed to this report.
