Mike Lee Proposes to Bar Democrat FCC Majority from Advancing AI Ad Rulemaking in Election Year

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced a bill on Wednesday that would bar the FCC from making a rule regulating AI content in political ads which Republicans see as election interference.

The Utah senator introduced the Ending FCC Meddling In Our Elections Act, which would ban the FCC from issuing its proposed rule requiring election advertisers to disclose their use of AI-generated content in political ads.

Billy Gribbin, Lee’s communications director, said in a statement to Axios, “Sen. Lee supports transparency in the use of AI in campaign ads. However, he strongly opposes the idea of a Democrat-run federal agency single-handedly changing AI usage rules just months before one of the most consequential elections in our history.”

The proposal has faced intense scrutiny from some at the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Election Commission, as well as from lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Sean Cooksey, the FEC chairman, wrote, “After opposition from me, @BrendanCarrFCC, and multiple U.S. Senators, now a new bill.”

Breitbart News has reported that Sens. John Thune (R-SD), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) accused FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel of acting as a “de facto arm” of the Biden campaign by advancing AI regulations during an election year.

The lawmakers noted that the proposal would enact onerous regulations on cable companies and broadcasters but not on “unregulated” big tech companies, as the proposed regulation would only apply to the former and not the latter.

“Rather than favoring certain political speech and interfering in the election, we urge you to abandon this dangerous proposal that threatens to tip the scales of free speech in our nation,” the Senate Republicans wrote.

Cooksey wrote to Rosenworcel, charging that they are infringing on the FEC’s jurisdiction to regulate election policy:

Congress vested the FEC with the sole authority to interpret, administer, and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended. This includes the disclaimer and reporting requirements specific to political communications set out under federal law. Indeed, federal courts of appeals have upheld the FEC’s unique authority to regulate political disclaimers against other agencies’ attempts to circumvent or supplement our rules, concluding that “the FEC is the exclusive administrative arbiter of questions concerning the name identifications and disclaimers” for political communications. Consequently, I maintain that the FCC lacks the legal authority to promulgate conflicting disclaimers requirements only for political communications.

The lawmakers also said the FCC is acting more like an arm of the Biden campaign than an independent agency:

The proposal you are advancing aligns closely with the broader agenda advocated by the Democrat National Committee, which urged the FEC to introduce sweeping regulations governing AI-generated political speech before the 2024 elections. It is unfortunate that the FCC is behaving less like an independent commission accountable to Congress, and more as a de facto arm of the Biden campaign.

Coincidentally, Democrat FEC vice chair Ellen Weintraub backed the FCC Democrat majority’s proposal.

Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.