State of Play
The Senate is entering its final week of session before breaking for the August recess.
Members are racing to pass a short-term government funding bill, Russia sanctions, a crypto market structure measure, and dozens of executive nominees before they leave Washington, but tensions are rising as Republican leaders navigate internal divisions and mounting pressure from President Trump over the SAVE America Act and other priorities.
The Tech Weekly will be off for a few weeks, but we’ll be back at the end of the month to keep you up to date on Congress’ fall tech policy plans.
Driving the News
The White House appears to have reached an agreement with key Senate Republicans to advance Todd Blanche's Justice Department nomination after the administration formally rescinded a controversial $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund and clarified the limits of President Donald Trump's tax audit immunity arrangement, removing objections from Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis.
In the background, FISA Section 702 still hangs in the balance. The Senate's confirmation of Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence has done little to revive stalled negotiations over reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, with Democrats citing concerns over both Clayton's confirmation process and the continued tenure of acting DNI Bill Pulte.
Three Things to Watch in Tech
Kids Online Safety vs. Frontier AI: The Senate Commerce Committee is set to mark up a broad package of children's online safety legislation Wednesday, including the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), the CHATBOT Act, the Youth AI Privacy Act, the Children's Artificial Intelligence Toy Safety Act, and other measures aimed at strengthening protections for minors online.
The package reflects growing bipartisan momentum behind youth-focused technology legislation, but Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) confirmed that a separate markup of a broader bipartisan framework to regulate frontier AI models has been delayed until after the August recess as lawmakers continue negotiating key issues, including mandatory safety testing, government oversight, and risk mitigation requirements.
The delay comes despite heightened concern following recent disclosures from OpenAI and Anthropic about advanced AI model behavior, leaving comprehensive federal AI safety legislation facing a narrower path this year even as lawmakers continue advancing more targeted AI and online safety measures.
Countdown on CLARITY: The Senate is running out of time to begin consideration of the CLARITY Act to establish digital assets market structure before lawmakers leave for the August recess, with the bill absent from this week's legislative calendar and no cloture petition yet filed.
While Majority Leader Thune has signaled he wants to force action through cloture vote or unanimous consent agreement, the measure would require bipartisan support to overcome procedural hurdles, and negotiations remain complicated by Democratic concerns over consumer protections, ethics, market integrity, and illicit finance provisions.
If the bill is not taken up before recess, its prospects could become more uncertain as Congress returns to a crowded fall agenda and the 2026 midterm elections draw closer.
White House Finalizes Voluntary AI Review Framework: The White House has completed a voluntary framework for reviewing advanced AI models under President Donald Trump's June executive order and is expected to brief leading AI developers, including Meta, Anthropic, and Google, at a meeting with the Office of the National Cyber Director this week.
The framework is intended to guide how the federal government engages with companies before and after the deployment of frontier AI models, balancing national security and safety concerns with the administration's light-touch approach to regulation.
It remains unclear whether the framework will be released publicly, raising questions about how companies outside the initial discussions will be able to participate in the voluntary review process.
🏛️ Tech Hearings
The Senate Judiciary Crime and Counterterrorism Subcommittee holds a hearing to examine data and profit, focusing on the consumer cost of AI surveillance pricing - Tuesday, August 4 at 2:30 PM EST
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee holds a hearing to examine tracking prediction markets' exponential growth, focusing on tribal implications and beyond - Tuesday, August 4 at 4:00 PM EST
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee holds a markup of S. 737, the "Shielding Children's Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net Act"; S. 1748, the "Kids Online Safety Act"; S. 4199, the "Youth AI Privacy Act"; S. 4407, the "Children's Health, Advancement, Trust, Boundaries, and Oversight in Technology (CHATBOT) Act"; and S. 5171, the "Children's Artificial Intelligence Toy Safety Act of 2026" - Wednesday, August 5 at 10:00 AM EST
🗓️ Upcoming Events
The Government Executive Media Group's Route Fifty and Google Public Sector - Virtual Discussion on "AI and Transportation" - Wednesday, August 4 at 2:00 PM EST
Google - Google Defense Roadshow, with the theme "The AI mission advantage" - Thursday, August 5 at 10:00 AM EST
The Government Executive Media Group and Salesforce - Virtual Discussion on "Missionforce National Security: Agentic AI Execution at the Speed of War" - Thursday, August 5 at 2:00 PM EST
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations - Virtual Discussion on "Common Sense Economics and Artificial Intelligence” - Thursday, August 5 at 3:00 PM EST
