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The Daily Scoop Podcast
The Trump admin is readying an executive order on state AI law preemption
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President Donald Trump appears to be eyeing an ex…
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Today on the Daily Scoop Podcast from the Scoop News Group, the Trump administration is readying an executive order to preempt state AI laws and the Pentagon pares down its list of critical emerging technologies. It's Thursday, November 20, 2025. Welcome to the Daily Scoop Podcast, where you'll hear the latest news and trends facing government leaders. I'm the host of the Daily Scoop Podcast, Billy Mitchell. Thanks so much for joining me. All right, now it's time to dive into the day's top headlines. President Donald Trump appears to be eyeing an executive order that would target individual state efforts to rein in artificial intelligence and initiate several actions aimed at preempting those laws. A draft order viewed by FedScoop includes plans to establish an AI litigation task force to challenge state AI statutes, restrict funding for states with AI laws that the administration view as onerous, and launch efforts to preempt state laws via the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and legislation. In response to a Fed Scoop inquiry about the six page draft order, which was also marked deliberative and pre decisional, a White House official said that until announced officially, any discussion about that potential executive order is only speculation. The document comes as long discussed desires by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans to preempt state AI laws and clear the field for AI companies appear to be coming to a head. Republican lawmakers are again planning to include a state AI law moratorium in the must pass National Defense Authorization act, and Trump, in a Tuesday social media post, voiced clear support for a federal standard to be included in the NDAA or another bill. Under the draft order titled Eliminating State Law Obstruction of National AI Policy, the Attorney General would create the Litigation Task Force, which would focus solely on challenging state AI laws, including on grounds that they unlawfully regulate interstate commerce and are preempted by federal regulations. For its part, the Commerce Department would have a mandate to evaluate existing state AI laws that conflict with the order and identify statutes that should be referred to the task force. Commerce would also be required to withhold certain funds from states with AI laws the administration deems onerous. The introduction of the draft specifically calls out laws in California and Colorado. Meanwhile, the FCC would be required to look into a federal standard for reporting and disclosure for AI models that would preempt state laws, and the FTC would apply a federal statute prohibiting unfair and deceptive acts to state laws that require alterations to the truthful outputs of of AI models. Finally, the draft calls for White House officials to prepare a legislative recommendation establishing a federal AI framework that would preempt state laws. Prior to the draft, the Trump administration had already outlined some of its aspirations for restricting state efforts to regulate AI, including limits on funding. In its AI Action Plan earlier this year, the administration said the government should not allow AI related federal funding to be directed towards states with burdensome AI regulations that waste these funds. Now moving on to other news, the Defense Department's chief technology office has revised its list of critical technology areas, reducing the number of research and development priorities by more than half. The Pentagon announced on Monday that the 14 critical technology areas established during the Biden administration will be trimmed to just six categories. In a video shared on LinkedIn, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Emil Michael, who serves essentially as the Pentagon's chief technology officer, emphasized that the shortened list will steer the department's efforts to efficiently deliver the emerging capabilities the war fighters need. Michael said Monday in a statement that when he stepped into the role, the Office had identified 14 critical technology areas. And while each of those hold value, such a broad list, in his words, dilutes focus and fails to highlight the most urgent needs of the warfighter. The focus areas in the updated catalog include applied artificial Intelligence, biomanufacturing, contested logistics technologies, quantum and battlefield information Dominance, scaled directed energy, and scaled hypersonics. Since its creation, the Pentagon's outline of critical technology areas has included the most pressing challenges and capabilities needed for modern warfare. The list serves as a guide for where the department should focus its investment, research and development efforts. Michael previously hinted that he intended to revise the list to include fewer categories, noting that having such a large number of critical technology areas negatively impacted priorities and the Pentagon's ability to field new tools. At the time, he said that his vision was to focus on capabilities that can be delivered rapidly. Each of the six newly defined critical tech areas encompass capabilities that were part of the previous administration's priorities, and it's possible that work in some groups left off of the new list could be incorporated into those at a later point. For more news at the intersection of the federal government and technology, make sure to visit fedscoop.com thanks so much for.
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Tuning in to another episode of the Daily Scoop podcast, available on all podcast platforms. If you've already rated the podcast on your platform of choice, thanks so much. High ratings and good reviews of the show help more people to find it. The Daily Scoop Podcast is a production of the Scoop News Group in Washington, D.C. adam Butler and Carlin Fisher help put the show together, and the entire Scoop News Group team contributes. We'll be back tomorrow with more top headlines. Until then, I'm your host. As always, Billy Mitchell. Thanks so much for listening.