WEEK OF JUNE 30. 2025
One Big Beautiful Newsletter
State of Play:
The House and Senate were supposed to be out this week, but the Senate is still here, voting on the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and the House is on-call to come back to town ahead of President Trump’s July 4th deadline.
This week’s newsletter is a special edition deep-dive on what tech provisions are expected in the final package, its prospects in the House, and what Congress is likely to prioritize next for tech.
Driving the News:
The Senate today has begun a “vote-a-rama” on amendments to the reconciliation package. Late Saturday evening, the Senate voted to begin debate in a vote of 51-49, with Republican Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) voting against it. Votes are expected to go all day today and possibly into tomorrow morning.
The House will come back into session for a vote beginning Wednesday, likely pushing through the reconciliation package ahead of the Friday holiday.
A new, five-year AI moratorium compromise for the Senate reconciliation bill seems likely to be signed into law.
A Closer Look at the Big, Beautiful Bill:
What Tech Provisions Are in It: The bill includes over 900 pages of provisions, many of which could have implications for tech, AI, and R&D initiatives.
Senate Commerce Chair Cruz’s (R-TX) state AI moratorium linked to federal broadband funding is still in the bill, and likely to remain now that some changes have been made. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who had opposed the 10 year moratorium, reached a compromise with Senator Cruz for a shorter, five-year moratorium exempting some state laws protecting children and name, image, and likeness rights. The Blackburn-Cruz amendment will likely be included as part of a “managers package” in the final bill.
Although Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) previously vowed to oppose any restrictions that undermine state efforts to combat AI fraud and abuse, there does not seem to be enough Senate opposition to block the five-year AI moratorium.
The bill also includes a retroactive domestic research and experimental expenditures tax credit, prioritizes “transformational AI models” for defense and energy, and includes funding for emerging tech including the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative.
Will It Pass?: The bill is expected to pass the Senate, despite opposition from several Republican senators including Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who noted this morning that he is not committed to voting, as well as original holdouts Paul and Tillis.
As noted, Senator Josh Hawley could still be on the fence depending on the new AI moratorium language.
If the reworked language passes the Senate, the House is expected to take it up quickly. Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) issued an announcement to Members late Sunday that votes are expected to begin Wednesday morning.
Some House Members have expressed a desire to change the language, again, in which case the legislative process would be delayed. It’s important to keep an eye out for House Republicans who have expressed significant opposition to the package.
But short of several Republicans going unexpectedly rogue, we would expect Republican Leadership to find a way to force the bill through by the 4th of July.
What’s Next on Congress’ Tech To-Dos: The reconciliation package has consumed the majority of the air in Congress as of late, so what can we expect Members to turn their attention to leading up to the August recess?
Kids online safety could be on the docket, particularly in the Senate. Senator Blackburn has said she intends to push for her bill, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), to make it over the finish line this congress. Given her recent agreement on the AI moratorium with Cruz to include children’s protections, it shows there is an appetite for further work in Senate Commerce.
Both chambers will also look to other must-pass items including appropriations for fiscal year (FY) 2026, as well as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which annually includes numerous cyber, AI, and other tech priorities.
Franklin Square Group x The Embassy of the Republic of Singapore
Franklin Square Group was proud to co-host “AI Policy and (De-)Regulation: From Trump’s America to the World” alongside the Embassy of the Republic of Singapore last week on how businesses and governments are navigating a rapidly shifting AI regulatory landscape.
Special shoutout to our moderator Hubert Han, and to panelists Sarah Beth Jansen (Franklin Square Group), Eric Loeb (Salesforce), and Chan Park (OpenAI) for keeping things candid, thoughtful, and engaging.
This is one installment of Franklin Square’s engagement with the international tech attachés of the DC embassies. Let us know who you want to see next!
What's Happening This Week
Tech Hearings
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs markup of Sean Carincross to be National Cyber Director - Monday, June 30 at 9:45 AM EST
Tech Events
No events this week.
