Biden to issue executive order to bolster AI infrastructure in the US
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(WASHINGTON) — With just days left in his administration, President Joe Biden will sign a new executive order focused on bolstering the infrastructure needed to for advanced AI operations in the U.S., according to the White House.
“I am signing an historic Executive Order to accelerate the speed at which we build the next generation of AI infrastructure here in America, in a way that enhances economic competitiveness, national security, AI safety, and clean energy,” Biden said in a Tuesday statement on the announcement.
The order will direct the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to lease federal sites where the private sector can build AI infrastructure “at speed and scale,” he said.
“These efforts are designed to accelerate the clean energy transition in a way that is responsible and respectful to local communities, and in a way that does not impose any new costs on American families,” Biden added.
Tarun Chabra, deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for technology and national security, said on a call previewing the order that it’s “really critical” for national security to establish a path for building the data centers and power infrastructure in the U.S.
“Domestic data centers for training and operating powerful AI models will help the United States facilitate AI’s safe and secure development and harness AI in the service of our national security,” he said. “It will also prevent our adversaries from accessing these powerful systems to the detriment of our military and our national security, while preventing the United States from growing dependent on other countries to access powerful AI tools.”
Biden underscored the importance of AI in his remarks at the State Department on Monday.
“AI has the power to reshape, reshape economies, governments, national security, entire societies. And it must be the United States and our closest allies lead the way to ensure people’s rights are respected, their safety is protected, and their data is secure,” Biden said.
Officials on a call with reporters noted current strains on the AI market to make investments needed for large-scale operations saying their cost, power constraints and permitting challenges resulting in long lead times to bring data centers to market.
“The Executive Order directs certain agencies to make federal sites available for AI data centers and new clean power facilities, facilitate this infrastructure’s interconnection to the electric grid, fulfill permitting obligations expeditiously, and advance transmission development around federal sites,” according to a fact sheet on the announcement.
Specifically, the order will direct the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to identify at least three federal sites each they own for these types of developments and allow private sector companies to bid competitively on leases to build on the sites.
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 on the campaign trail but has since nominated several authors or contributors from the controversial conservative presidential wish list to his administration.
Trump called the Project 2025 policy proposals — which include restrictions on abortion pills, birth control pills and Medicare access, as well as eliminating a couple of federal agencies — “extreme, seriously extreme” in a July 20 rally.
“I don’t know anything about it. I don’t want to know anything about it,” he previously said, despite having many connections to its authors and contributors.
Democrats pounced on Trump for Project 2025 during the election season, calling it a warning of what is to come under a second Trump term.
“Project 2025 is the plan by Donald Trump’s MAGA Republican allies to give Trump more power over your daily life, gut democratic checks and balances, and consolidate power in the Oval Office if he wins,” the Biden campaign stated.
Project 2025 is an over 900-page playbook of policy proposals created by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation intended to guide the next conservative administration. The organization behind the document told ABC News in a past statement that it was not intended to speak for any candidate during the election.
Project 2025 and Trump’s Agenda47 share similarities — including proposals to eliminate the Department of Education, increase fossil fuel energy production, and begin mass deportations.
At the ABC News debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump reiterated his earlier sentiment on the project. “This was a group of people that got together, they came up with some ideas, I guess some good, some bad, but it makes no difference. I have nothing to do [with it].”
Now, several Project 2025 authors and contributors are not just connected to Trump, but also nominated for roles in his administration.
Here’s a look at which Project 2025 contributors may have a place in the incoming Trump administration:
Russ Vought
Russ Vought, who is cited as authoring a chapter on “Executive Office of the President” for Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise,” has been nominated to head the Office of Management and Budget. He was also the RNC platform committee’s policy director.
During Trump’s first term, Vought led the Office of Management and Budget, a department meant to oversee the president’s vision across the executive branch for everything from budgeting to managing certain agencies.
He could return to the post after authoring an entire chapter of Project 2025, where he argues federal regulatory agencies that aren’t under the control of the White House should have less autonomy: “A President today assumes office to find a sprawling federal bureaucracy that all too often is carrying out its own policy plans and preferences — or, worse yet, the policy plans and preferences of a radical, supposedly ‘woke’ faction of the country,” the chapter read.
In the chapter, he outlined ways his office could help consolidate executive power by using existing tools to impose a crackdown on federal spending and work with Congress to pass policy and reforms that would rein in what he calls the “administrative state.”
In a November interview on the “Tucker Carlson Show,” Vought claimed he helped the president-elect to exert executive power during his first term: “The president wanted to fund the wall. We at OMB gave him a plan to be able to go and fund the wall through money that was Department of Defense and to use that because Congress wouldn’t give him the ordinary money at the Department of Homeland Security.”
Pete Hoekstra
Pete Hoekstra, who is listed as a contributor to Project 2025, has been tapped to be the ambassador to Canada.
Most recently, Hoekstra served as chairman of the Michigan Republican Party. He previously served as the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump’s first term.
Stephen Miller
Stephen Miller, the former Trump aide, led an interest group that advised Project 2025 on policy. Trump has named Miller as his Deputy Chief of Staff for his second term.
Miller told ABC News in July that he has “zero involvement” with Project 2025, only making an advice video for students.
America First Legal, founded by Miller, was previously listed as an advisory board member for the project.
Brendan Carr
Brendan Carr, Trump’s nomination for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is credited as the author of Project 2025’s FCC recommendations which include: a ban on TikTok, restrictions on social media moderation, and more.
Carr would be tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Trump has suggested that he would expand the White House’s influence over the FCC and potentially punish TV networks that cover him in a way he doesn’t like.
Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel and as the senior Republican for the FCC. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission.
John Ratcliffe
Ratcliffe, listed as a contributor who assisted “in the development and writing” of Project 2025, has been nominated to serve as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Ratcliffe is a three-term Republican congressman from Texas and served as the director of national intelligence from mid-2020 until the end of Trump’s first term.
Project 2025’s Intelligence Community chapter, credited to The Heritage Foundation’s intelligence research fellow Dustin J. Carmack, notes that the “CIA’s success depends on firm direction from the President and solid internal CIA Director–appointed leadership. Decisive senior leaders must commit to carrying out the President’s agenda and be willing to take calculated risks.”
Tom Homan
Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan has been designated as Trump’s “border czar” — which is not an official Cabinet position.
Homan, who is expected to be in charge of the mass deportations promised by the Trump campaign, is listed as a contributor to Project 2025 who assisted in its “development and writing.”
Project 2025’s Department of Homeland Security chapter, credited to Trump’s former Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli, calls for full use of ICE’s “expedited removal” authority and further development of immigrant detention spaces. This all aligns with Trump’s immigration proposals on mass deportations and funds for the construction of detention centers.
Other links to Project 2025
Christopher Miller is credited with the project’s Department of Defense recommendations. Miller served as Acting Secretary of Defense and Special Assistant to the President under Trump from November 2020 to January 2021.
Ben Carson is credited with the project’s Housing and Urban Development recommendations. He served as the Secretary of HUD under Trump’s first administration.
Adam Candeub is credited with the project’s Federal Trade Commission recommendations. He served under the Trump administration as Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Telecommunications and Information.
Bernard L. McNamee is credited with recommendations on the Department of Energy and Related Commissions. He was nominated to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by Trump in October 2018.
Cuccinelli — who wrote the Department of Homeland Security section — was also part of Trump’s former administration as the Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.
The RNC platform committee’s Deputy Policy Director Ed Martin is also president of the Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund, which is listed on the project’s advisory board.
Others connected to Trump, including Trump’s United Nations Commission on the Status of Women appointee Lisa Correnti, are listed among the contributors.
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent Friday’s sentencing in his New York criminal hush money case.
In a filing Wednesday, defense lawyers argued that a New York judge lacks the authority to sentence the president-elect until Trump exhausts his appeal based on presidential immunity.
“This Court should enter an immediate stay of further proceedings in the New York trial court to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
The move came after a New York appeals court earlier Tuesday denied Trump’s request to delay the Jan. 10 sentencing.
Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
In asking the Supreme Court to intervene, Trump has presented the court with an unprecedented situation of a former president — whose appointment of three justices cemented the court’s conservative majority — asking the country’s highest court to effectively toss his criminal conviction less than two weeks ahead of his inauguration.
Trump asked the Supreme Court to consider whether he is entitled to a stay of the proceedings during his appeal; whether presidential immunity prevents the use of evidence related to official acts; and whether a president-elect is entitled to the same immunity as a sitting president.
If adopted by the justices, Trump’s argument about immunity for a president-elect could expand the breadth of presidential authority, temporarily providing a private citizen with the absolute immunity reserved for a sitting president.
In a 6-3 decision last year, the Supreme Court broadened the limits of presidential immunity, finding that a former president is presumptively immune from criminal liability for any official acts and absolutely immune related to his core duties. The decision not only expanded the limits of presidential power but also upended the criminal cases faced by Trump.
Despite that favorable opinion, Trump faces uncertainty in convincing the justices to halt his sentencing. The Supreme Court does not typically take on random interlocutory appeals, even by a president-elect.
Trump’s lawyers also argued that the former president’s conviction relied on evidence of official acts, including his social media posts as president and testimony from his close White House advisers. The New York judge in the case, Juan Merchan, ruled that Trump’s conviction related “entirely to unofficial conduct” and “poses no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the Executive Branch.”
“This appeal will ultimately result in the dismissal of the District Attorney’s politically motivated prosecution that was flawed from the very beginning, centered around the wrongful actions and false claims of a disgraced, disbarred serial-liar former attorney, violated President Trump’s due process rights, and had no merit,” Trump’s filing to the Supreme Court said.
(WASHINGTON) — North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx, 81, was tapped by House Speaker Mike Johnson to serve as the chairwoman of the powerful House Rules Committee, two GOP sources told ABC News, becoming the only woman to lead a House committee in the 119th Congress.
The House GOP conference voted to approve Foxx’s selection during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.
“For two decades, Dr. Foxx has been a stalwart in the House and a leader in multiple policy areas,” Johnson said in a statement. “Her drive and personality have established her as among the most universally respected members of our Republican Conference. Dr. Foxx is an example of how Members should serve, and our Conference will benefit greatly with her at the helm of the influential Rules Committee.”
The Rules Committee is the last stop for big-ticket legislation before it can hit the House floor for a vote. Several Republicans urged Johnson to appoint Texas Rep. Chip Roy, who often bucks leadership, to lead the committee to ensure he’d win the gavel. Meanwhile, Foxx is a staunch supporter of Johnson and getting his priorities passed through the House.
“I feel very humbled,” Foxx told ABC News. “It’s going to be a tough session, but I’m committed to helping make it work.”
“From securing our southern border, to unleashing American energy, to fighting to lower Bidenflation, and making our communities safe again, our Committee Chairs are ready to get to work fulfilling the American people’s mandate and enacting President Trump’s America-First agenda,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said in announcing the list of chairs, who were selected by the House Republican Steering Committee. “House Republicans are heading into the 119th Congress prepared to address the issues most important to hardworking Americans and fight for meaningful legislative wins.
“I look forward to working with these strong leaders and their Committees to advance President Trump’s priorities and deliver the American people the government they voted for in November,” he added.
Three Republican women led House committees in the 118th Congress: Texas Rep. Kay Granger chaired the Appropriations Committee, Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers chaired the Energy and Commerce Committee and Foxx chaired the Education and the Workforce Committee.
Neither Granger nor McMorris Rodgers ran for reelection in 2024, though Foxx did earn an 11th term in office. Foxx, 81, had been granted a waiver to lead the Education and the Workforce Committee in the 118th Congress beyond the six-year term limits the House GOP imposes, and she did not request an additional waiver. She had served as chairwoman in the 115th Congress, as well as ranking member in the 116th and the 117th. Michigan Rep. Tim Walberg will take over the chairmanship of the Education and the Workforce Committee instead.
“Chairmen of committees are very important positions, but we really do engage all the membership,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier this week ahead of the selections. “We have extraordinary women serving in Congress and in the Republican Conference. In fact, we elected some really strong women in the upcoming freshmen class.
“We value those voices. And everybody has an equal say at the table,” he noted. “These are thoughtful elections. We have an embarrassment of riches, frankly.”
Florida Rep. Brian Mast, a close Trump ally, will lead the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan will continue to lead the Judiciary Committee, Kentucky Rep. James Comer will continue to lead the Oversight Committee and Missouri Rep. Jason Smith will continue to lead the powerful Ways and Means Committee.
“Very fitting in the MAGA Era – No Women Need Apply,” former Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock, a Republican, posted ahead of the final selections in December when no women had been selected.
The Republican Party will have a trifecta after Trump’s inauguration with control of the House, Senate, and White House, but the razor-thin majority of 220 Republicans to 215 Democrats in the House will leave little room for dissent, especially with two members of the House GOP set to be nominated for posts in the Trump administration and the resignation of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.
“After four years of suffering under the radical policies of the Biden-Harris Administration and a Democrat-controlled Senate, the American people made clear they are ready for a change,” Scalise added. “With Republicans taking control of the White House, Senate, and House, it is imperative we are in position to move President Trump’s agenda efficiently and thoughtfully so we can quickly restore our nation to greatness.”
ABC News’ John Parkinson contributed to this report.
