Donald Trump does not have the authority to regulate artificial intelligence through an executive order, and the move will be challenged in court, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told The Pavlovic Today.
His comments followed the president’s signing of an AI executive order this week at the White House directing the Justice Department to establish an “AI Litigation Task Force” empowered to challenge state laws that diverge from a federally imposed framework. The order also authorizes the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to consider withholding federal funding from states deemed noncompliant and seeks to regulate what it defines as “truthful outputs” from artificial intelligence systems. The executive order follows two failed attempts by House Republicans to insert federal-only authority over AI into the National Defense Authorization Act, language that was ultimately stripped after bipartisan backlash.
“Our view related to Donald Trump’s most recent action connected to artificial intelligence is that he doesn’t have the authority to do it, and ultimately it’s going to get struck down in court,” Jeffries told The Pavlovic Today.
In an exchange with Jeffries, The Pavlovic Today raised questions about whether the AI executive order is truly about innovation or instead about expanding presidential power. If this approach were to become standard, what would stop any future president from using the Justice Department to nullify other state laws they oppose? Should Americans be concerned that AI policy is increasingly being shaped through executive orders and litigation rather than open debate in Congress?
Jeffries cast the executive order as part of a broader pattern of behavior that, in his view, the public has already rejected.
“Donald Trump has tried to conduct himself like a wannabe king from the very beginning,” Jeffries said, adding that the American people are “clearly rejecting that approach.”
While sharply critical of the method, Jeffries emphasized that artificial intelligence represents a profound and complex technological shift — one that carries both extraordinary promise and significant risk.
“This is a complicated thing,” Jeffries said. “A transformative innovation that has the possibility of bringing great societal benefits, particularly in the areas of medicine and education, as it relates to reaching young people who live in historically under-resourced parts of the country. But at the same time, it’s our view that this transformative technology, in the hands of bad actors, presents risks of creating societal harm. That is why a thoughtful approach is needed, not a my-way-or-the-highway executive order.”
Trump: You have to get one approval
At the signing ceremony Tuesday, President Trump framed the executive order as a matter of national unity and competition with China. “We have to be unified.,” said Trump, “China is unified because they have one vote, that’s President Xi. He says do it, and that’s the end of that.”
Trump said he has spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping about artificial intelligence but declined to say whether their discussions included guardrails, including building on the Biden-era agreement not to use AI-enabled systems in nuclear weapons decision-making.
Trump has repeatedly argued that state-level regulation would hinder AI development. Speaking last month at the U.S.–Saudi Investment Forum, he criticized the prospect of complying with multiple state laws.
“You can’t go through 50 states. You have to get one approval,” Trump said. “Fifty is a disaster. You’ll have one woke state, and you’ll have to do all woke. You’ll have a couple of wokesters, and you don’t want to do that. You want to get the AI done.”
House Democratic Commission on AI
Earlier this week, on Dec. 9, Jeffries announced the launch of a new House Democratic Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy, which will convene throughout 2026. The commission will develop policy expertise in partnership with the innovation community, relevant stakeholders, and committees of jurisdiction.
“The brilliance and ingenuity of the innovation community has positioned America to lead the world in artificial intelligence and pioneer potentially life-changing breakthroughs in medicine and other fields of human endeavor that will benefit humanity,” Jeffries said. “It is important that American companies continue to thrive in this area. At the same time, Congress must consider what policies are needed to prevent bad actors from exploiting this transformative technology and inflicting harm upon the American people.
“Unfortunately, Republicans abandoned the bipartisan task force on AI. At this watershed moment in technological history, the people we are privileged to represent understandably have questions about how AI will affect their lives into the future. House Democrats are ready, willing, and able to lean into those issues so we can uplift the health, safety, and economic well-being of the American people.”
Based on the position Jeffries outlined to The Pavlovic Today at his morning press conference, legal challenges to the Trump executive order appear inevitable.
Opposition to efforts to preempt state authority on artificial intelligence has also emerged from across the political spectrum. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has denounced attempts to prevent states from passing their own AI laws. Writing on X, DeSantis argued that federal preemption “takes away our sovereignty.”
Last month, the push for federal preemption has also triggered resistance from influential MAGA figure Steve Bannon.
“They’re trying to slip this into another 9,000-page, must-pass NDAA that they don’t want to have a discussion about, in the dark of night,” Bannon said at the time.
The issue is expected to feature prominently on the national news agenda heading into 2026 and could carry into the midterm elections, where artificial intelligence regulation may become part of a broader political test of executive power.
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