Top House Progressive Wants To Make AI Scrutiny A Top Priority In Democratic House

A top House progressive lawmaker is pushing for aggressive oversight of artificial intelligence now that Democrats will decisively take over the House in January.

Democrats should take advantage of their decisive sweep in the midterm elections to force AI executives to testify before Congress and pass AI safety bills, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar said on Tuesday. Congress will likely become much more hawkish against the AI industry compared to the more tech-friendly Republican majorities in Congress.

“The House Democratic majority must make it a top priority to protect Americans’ jobs, freedoms, and lives from AI billionaires,” Casar said in a statement on Tuesday, according to Punchbowl News. “AI company CEOs should be called to testify under oath. Congress should investigate how these companies are putting the jobs, freedom, and lives of Americans at risk. And we should pass bills to protect the people.”

Casar’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

“The revolt against data centers was one of the top issues of the 2026 election, and in a few years we will look back on it as just the early tremor of a much bigger AI earthquake upending American politics,” he added in his statement.

“Voters rejected Republicans in part because they were bought and paid for by AI billionaires. Democrats must hold them accountable instead of cashing their checks,” Casar concluded.

Midterm election exit polling found that Americans have soured on AI and want more safety with regards to the technology.

Roughly two-thirds of voters rejected data center construction in their neighborhoods and 43 percent do not trust either party to handle AI issues, according to early CNN exit polls.

Republicans’ inability to embrace “common-sense” AI safety measures could cost them dearly heading into the next election cycle, according to a poll exclusively obtained by the DCNF.

“Right now, Democrats have the early edge on trust largely because Republicans have been quiet, not because voters have rejected the GOP’s approach,” the polling memo stated.

As Democrats plan to take over Congress, it appears they aim to have tech executives testify under oath.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and others would likely become easy targets for Democratic oversight and they would also likely grill OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei about AI safety, according to Punchbowl News.

Democrats with newfound majorities in Congress may also push the brakes on AI development.

Casar and Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in September proposed the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, a bill that would stop frontier AI development until a Cabinet-level Department of Artificial Intelligence can properly regulate and oversee AI pacing, according to NBC News.

AI safety organizations praised the legislation.

“We appreciate the choice to define superintelligent AI by its capability to overpower the federal government. This targets exactly the kind of AI development that poses a risk of extinction, without having to settle in advance the technical details of how such an AI would work,” ControlAI, an AI safety group, said in September in a press release.

Other Democratic members are crafting their own legislative solutions to AI-related issues.

Democratic Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell and Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Lori Trahan released a framework on AI safety in October, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — likely the incoming House Speaker — and other House Democrats continue to draft their AI policy platform, according to Politico.

Democrats want to seize their electoral mandate. However, President Donald Trump signaled he may block any Democratic initiatives that pass through Congress.

Trump shared an image with “VETO” emblazoned on a red hat, according to his Tuesday night Truth Social post.

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