Congress has been ‘asleep at the wheel’ over AI, says Bernie Sanders – US politics live

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Sanders capped off his speech by noting that we are at “a dangerous and unprecedented moment in world history”, and it is “imperative” to stand up to AI industry leaders, but also to a “a government of both political parties, which have not been as aggressive in any way, shape, or form as they should be”.

While the senator said that AI has the potential to do “some extraordinarily good things” when it comes to healthcare and prescription drug development, but he stressed the need to make sure that AI “works for all of the people and does not simply end up making a handful of the richest people on Earth even richer”.

Sanders decries rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, says Congress has been 'asleep at the wheel'

Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, has decried the advancement of artificial intelligence the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington today.

The leading progressive lawmaker has emerged as a leading voice in warning against the rapidity of the technology’s evolution.

“If AI surpasses human intelligence, as many scientists believe could happen, this technology will escape human control with potentially catastrophic consequences,” Sanders said in Washington today. “AI is advancing exponentially, exponentially every single day. In other words, what you are looking at right now is the least capable version of AI that we will ever have – the least capable, the dumbest version. The speed and scope of AI development in just the last four years has been almost beyond human comprehension.”

Sanders added that Congress, under both Republican and Democratic control, has been “been asleep at the wheel”.

“We now have a president whose ignorance regarding this issue is truly embarrassing,” he said, referring to Donald Trump’s insistence that the calls for AI guardrails are a “hoax” that would put the US on the back foot in the ongoing technological arms race with China.

Sanders, who we reported earlier, has proposed bicameral legislation with congressman Greg Casar to permanently ban the development of artificial superintelligence, said that the pledges from leading AI company CEOs for the industry to “slow down” are encouraging but ultimately not enough.

“When you are racing towards a cliff, you don’t just ease up on the gas pedal. You hit the brakes,” Sanders added. “When the future of humanity is at stake, we need binding international safety rules, not voluntary standards from the industry.”

Bessent defends Trump's $5k midterm incentive in House hearing

Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, defended Donald Trump’s $5,000 so-called “dividend” that he promised to every adult US citizen if Republicans win the House and the Senate in the upcoming midterm elections.

“I think it’s a good idea for the American people to keep more of their money,” Bessent said in response to a question from Democratic congressman Juan Vargas at a financial services committee hearing today.

“Does that hurt the deficit or the debt? Does that increase the deficit or does it increase the debt?” Vargas asked the treasury secretary.

“I believe that there are ways to do it without increasing the debt or deficit,” Bessent said. “I’m not ready to discuss it at present, but at Treasury, we’ve been working on it for quite a while.”

This comes as US debt reached $40tn for the first time last month. The milestone marks years of government spending that grew under both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

In a post on Truth Social this morning, Donald Trump reiterated claims that the Kennedy Center “is in a virtual state of collapse, and has been for many years”, before claiming that “a large piece of concrete and steel” had fallen from the ceiling in one of the hallways, arguing this posed a risk to the public and meant a security guard had narrowly escaped death.

This was supposedly to add to his argument that the institution should close for renovations, which the board is voting on today. He blamed the “very hostile and conflicted judge” for previously halting the closure, “in which case, unfortunately, the Building is destined to doom.”

Here’s the full post:

The Kennedy Center is in a virtual state of collapse, and has been for many years. A large piece of concrete and steel just dropped down, in a thud, from the ceiling of a heavily trafficked main hallway. If the Building were open, innocent people would have been killed. A security guard had just passed the area, one minute prior to this ceiling collapse. He was, therefore, 60 seconds away from certain death. The Judge has made us keep it open even though there are no performances, and no people that would have the Courage to even go in. The Board of The Kennedy Center has strongly voted to save it, and they know I’m the only one who can do so, because I have the ability to raise the money, and the ability to construct — that few others have. I also have the strength and power of the Presidency, which will be needed do what must be done, and give it a strong shot at Greatness again! Remember, The Kennedy Center was losing Hundreds of Millions of Dollars when I took over. It was failing badly! It had nothing to do with me, I am only there to help. I just got there to reveal the facts, but especially those concerning Building Safety. A very hostile and conflicted Judge (What else is new?) seems like he won’t let that happen, in which case, unfortunately, the Building is destined to doom. Isn’t that too bad? We have already wasted more than 6 months “playing around” in Court. Time is our Enemy! The Board, comprised of some of the most prominent and respected people in our Nation, is meeting again today. It will be interesting to see what happens!

Judge blocks Kennedy Center board from putting Trump's name on the building or grounds in any way

A federal judge has ruled that Donald Trump’s name must stay off the facade of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, blocking an effort by the center’s (Trump-appointed) board to restore his name to the building.

The judge also said the board cannot proceed with plans to rename ​the campus where it sits the “President Donald J. Trump ‌Plaza”.

“Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington wrote in the order. “The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted.”

Per my colleague Joseph Gedeon, Cooper ordered Trump’s name removed from the building in May, ruling that only Congress has authority to rename it, and the lettering came down in June. The board voted in August to reinstate an inscription and proceed with a closure for renovations, the latter of which a vote is expected to formalize today.

And yesterday, the Washington Post (paywall) reported that the Trump-installed leaders of the center claimed the institution was on the brink of bankruptcy, and argued that putting the president’s name on its facade may be the only way ⁠to avoid imminent and “certain fiscal collapse”. The documents obtained by the Post were prepared in advance of today’s meeting.

Here’s Joseph’s story on the vote:

Congressman Casar calls for US to lead AI diplomacy and end AI arms race

Congressman Greg Casar has called for the United States to lead the world in artificial intelligence diplomacy, saying it must end the AI arms race instead of trying to win it.

In remarks at the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington today, the Texas Democrat, a leading progressive voice calling for pausing the development of super-advanced AI, warned, “I believe we are closer than ever to breaking the dam on serious AI protections.”

He outlined three major threats to human existence that loom with the rise of advanced AI:

Controlled by big business, superpowerful AI could put countless Americans out of work.

Controlled by an out of control government, superpowerful AI would allow constant monitoring of citizens’ every move.

And controlled by the wrong humans – or controlled by no human – superpowerful AI could threaten countless lives.

Evoking the cold war, where humanity was pulled back from the brink of nuclear annihilation, he went on:

Far too many people seem to be trying to win a race where millions if not billions of lives could be lost at the finish line … No one can win the AI arms race. It’s up to us to end the AI arms race.

Casar referenced his bill with Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, which proposes to create “a cabinet-level federal agency to protect the public from dangerous AI … requires monitoring of frontier AI systems at all stages of development. And it bans the development of AI superintelligence”.

The bill would also “direct the United States to pursue international agreements to prevent superintelligence from being developed anywhere in the world”, Casar said.

“But while we pass safety rules here at home, AI diplomacy may be the most important thing we can do,” he said.

Donald Trump has alleged that the FBI under Joe Biden “didn’t do what they should have” investigating the assassination on the now-president’s life at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024.

“By the time I got into Office, on January 20th, most of the information was missing, altered, corrupted, or gone. New info was just found! Why wasn’t it seen long ago?” Trump wrote on Truth Social, claiming – without evidence – that this was “all a Democrat Plot, to get me out of the Election, that failed”.

The president continued to blast former FBI director Christopher Wray, who he called a “dirty cop” and “should pay a price for the way he handled this assassination attempt”.

Patel spars with Democratic senator over Atlantic article that alleges FBI director's excessive drinking

The FBI director sparred intensely with Democratic Senator Peter Welch, of Vermont, after the lawmaker questioned Patel over his defamation lawsuit against a journalist at the Atlantic, who wrote earlier this year about Patel’s alleged excessive drinking and unexplained absences on the job.

The FBI director has sued the magazine, and the author of a story it published, filing a defamation lawsuit in US district court for the District of Columbia that seeks $250m in damages.

“I have every right to claim the truth,” Patel said, accusing Sarah Fitzpatrick, the reporter, of printing “false material”. The FBI director added that he was acting as a “personal private citizen” in the lawsuit. “I am allowed to participate in my own defense, especially when there’s a smear campaign, one which you are participating and continuing the falsehoods and lies that have been directed at me,” he told Welch.

Patel also said that he did not direct the FBI to investigate Fitzpatrick for her reporting.

Welch also questioned Patel about after a video surfaced earlier this year, which shows the FBI director chugging a bottle and spraying beer in a locker room with the men’s USA hockey team in Milan, following their gold medal victory against Canada at the Winter Olympics.

“What you’ll never understand is the players who are my friends invited me into the locker room. What you’ll never understand is that during that trip, where 300,000 Americans went to Italy to participate in the games and watch them, not a single security incident occurred,” Patel said.

During Kash Patel’s hearing before senators on the judiciary committee, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, also probed the FBI director about Kremlev’s involvement in Donald Trump Jr’s wedding.

“I would like to know from you whether you have begun an investigation of potential intelligence compromises,” Blumenthal asked Patel. However, the FBI director said that he didn't “track” the reporting from ProPublica.

“Public reporting generally is inaccurate, and so what the men and women of the FBI will do, as we do in every case, is we will look at whatever information comes our way and analyze it,” Patel said.

Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, is investigating potential ties between the White House and a Russian oligarch who paid for a portion of Donald Trump Jr’s wedding.

In a letter sent to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, on Monday, Garcia expressed concern about “any possible foreign entanglement” between the president’s son and the oligarch, Umar Kremlev. Garcia asked Wiles to provide documents, records and communications between the White House and Trump Jr about Kremlev, among other requests.

“As the son of President Donald Trump and the part-owner and major investor of multiple companies with extensive Department of Defense contracts, any apparent ties to members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle raises serious questions about pay-to-play schemes and foreign intelligence infiltration of the President’s family,” Garcia wrote in the letter.

In a separate letter addressed to Trump Jr, Garcia expressed similar worries and asked the president’s son to provide more details about his wedding events bankrolled by Kremlev, including: all dates of communication between Trump Jr and Kremlev, any communications Trump Jr may have had with the White House about Kremlev, financial records of purchases made by foreign nationals and a complete list of wedding gifts from foreign nationals.

It came just hours after ProPublica revealed that the Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on wedding celebrations for Trump Jr and his wife, Bettina, earlier this year. The couple also confirmed Kremlev’s financial involvement on Monday.

The US president, however, downplayed the oligarch’s involvement: “I have no idea who Umar is, never heard of him, and he didn’t pay for Don and Bettina’s wedding, which took place at a totally different location, and on a different day from the wedding. It was an ‘afterparty’ given in their honor. Not a big deal! I was not present at the party.”

Patel does not commit to keep FBI agents away from polls during midterm elections

Kash Patel did not commit to keeping FBI agents away from polls during the November midterm elections.

While responding to Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal, the FBI director said that his department has an election counselor coordinator in every field office where they “quarterback these election activities”.

When Blumenthal pushed Patel on whether he would confirm that agents wouldn’t be physically present at ballot sites, Patel said: “The FBI will follow the law if there’s a reason to go there because there’s been a violation of law”.

The FBI director noted that the priority to “monitor elections” rests with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“I don’t know that we can’t legally do it. I’m telling you, we’re going to house our agents and intel analysts in our field offices for election security,” Patel told Blumenthal.

Maria ‌Ressa, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has told Reuters that artificial intelligence will take away our agency unless we legislate now to limit it.

Ressa, a Filipino and American journalist and CEO of Rappler, jointly won the 2021 award in part for her work documenting the power of large tech companies. She also serves as co-chair of the UN’s international scientific panel on artificial intelligence, tasked with assessing how AI is transforming lives worldwide.

“It is not ​a freedom of speech issue to ask for regulation,” Ressa told Reuters. “It’s a public safety issue.”

She added that if AI regulation doesn’t happen, it will “be beyond our control ⁠if we don’t step in now”.

Ressa also dismissed Donald Trump’s argument that any guardrails could allow China to gain ground in developing AI and outpacing the US.

“China actually puts more safeguards in place for its citizens than Silicon Valley does for the rest of the world. If you’re on TikTok, the version of TikTok that ‌is in ⁠China has age restrictions,” she said.

Ressa’s interview with Reuters happened before leading AI company CEOs called for further checks and to slow down the development of the technology.

During his hearing with Senate judiciary lawmakers, both parties have questioned FBI director Kash Patel about his department lowering hiring standards for applicants with certain background histories. This includes those who have had sexual encounters with sex workers, theft from an employer or engaging in acts of bestiality.

On the last act, Patel claimed this only includes people who were “trafficked” into having sex with an animal. Republican senator John Kennedy however, sought further clarity.

“If Joe participated in beastiality, not as the animal but as the human, don’t you think he ought to be disqualified?” he asked the FBI director, while asking how it was possible to “involuntarily” commit bestiality.

“In a lot of these cases, when human traffickers, who are some of the worst individuals on planet Earth, they don’t just traffic you for prostitution; they traffic you for degrading acts of all kind, and they force you into that type of conduct. And some of these individuals would go on to be law enforcement officers, who qualified to be law enforcement officers and later applied to the FBI,” Patel insisted.

'This court has really let our country down': Trump blasts decision that blocks mail-in voting executive orders

Donald Trump has blasted the supreme court’s ruling which blocks his long-sought executive order which curbs mail-in voting. The president called mail-in voting – which he has used on several occasions to cast a ballot – “a laughing stock” across the world. He has routinely claimed, without evidence, that the voting method is prone to fraud.

“The Supreme Court has really let our Country down! Certain Justices are petrified of these crazed and depraved Democrats, and are totally unable to show the courage necessary to save our America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

A reminder, only two of nine justices – Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito – sided with the administration. Trump called both of the conservative members of the bench “legends” in their dissent.

“This Supreme Court is bullied and cajoled by the Radical Left into making decisions that have set America back at least a hundred years,” the president added, while chiding the court’s decision at the end of its last term which also rejected Trump’s executive order which attempted to limit birthright citizenship and the earlier ruling which found a number of the administration’s tariffs unlawful. The president also accused the justices he nominated for the bench – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – not “the people I interviewed to serve” but “merely a shell of their original selves”.

“The damage done to America is incalculable, and they know this, just as everyone else does – It is an irreparable and unrecoverable harm! The Court’s inability and unwillingness to do the right thing for our Country will go down, in a very negative way, in the annals of History,” Trump wrote. “It is not easy for me to write this criticism of the United States Supreme Court – it will likely cost me dearly for years to come – but I feel it my obligation and duty, as President, to do so for the America we love!”

Against the backdrop of Patel’s hearing is the FBI’s latest report outlining the national crime statistics. The new data shows that between 2024 and 2025 there was the largest year-to-year decline in violent crime rates since FBI estimations began in 1936.