50+ AI Safety Groups Press Democrats for Key Committee Gavels as Subramanyam Defends Guardrails
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 5
50+ AI Safety Groups Press Democrats for Key Committee Gavels as Subramanyam Defends Guardrails
2 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 5
Summary
More than 50 AI safety organizations urged Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and other Democratic leaders to award key House and Senate posts to lawmakers backing binding AI rules, opposing state-law preemption and rejecting anti-regulatory super PAC money.
The push targets committee and subcommittee gavels expected to shape AI policy next year, especially on House Energy and Commerce, Science and Appropriations, and potentially a new AI select committee.
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam has emerged as a flashpoint because some safety groups fear his ties to the House Innovators Caucus and support for the Great American AI Act signal industry-friendly leanings.
Subramanyam said it would make sense for him to chair the House Science research subcommittee if he stays on the panel, but argued he supports mandatory model evaluations, stronger NIST authority and robust federal guardrails.
The fight follows a midterm cycle in which rival AI-aligned and AI-safety super PACs poured money into races, underscoring how committee assignments could become the next battleground over who writes AI rules.