Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on the Decoder podcast this week that he supports creating a new federal agency to regulate artificial intelligence, arguing that Congress is moving too slowly to keep up with the technology. He also floated the possibility of impeaching President Trump, though he tied the AI discussion to a broader concern: after the Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision ended Chevron deference, courts—not agency experts—now interpret vague laws.
Why Schiff wants a new agency
Schiff sits on Senate committees with jurisdiction over intellectual property, antitrust, privacy, and technology. He said the current patchwork of regulators isn't equipped to handle AI's rapid development. A single dedicated agency, in his view, would centralize expertise and set clear rules. The White House has taken a different tack: earlier this year, President Trump gathered AI CEOs to sign a non-binding pact promising to keep their systems safe. That voluntary approach hasn't satisfied critics who want enforceable standards.
📊 Market Data Snapshot
The Chevron factor
Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, decided by the Supreme Court, overturned the decades-old Chevron doctrine that had courts defer to federal agencies' interpretations of ambiguous statutes. Schiff's warning is simple: without Chevron, any new AI law written in broad terms will be defined by judges, not technologists. That cuts both ways. It limits agency overreach, but it also means regulatory uncertainty could drag on for years as cases work through the courts.
Crypto isn't mentioned in the podcast, but the regulatory logic overlaps. If AI gets its own agency, that body could become the template for overseeing other emerging technologies—including decentralized networks that blend AI and blockchain. The SEC and CFTC have spent years building crypto-specific expertise, however imperfect. A new AI agency might lack that background and treat decentralized protocols as high-risk AI systems. Meanwhile, the White House's preference for voluntary compliance could weaken the SEC's enforcement-heavy stance, giving crypto firms an argument for self-regulation.
The political math
Schiff's impeachment talk complicates any bipartisan tech bill. Republicans may be less willing to cooperate on AI or crypto legislation if they see him as a partisan antagonist. That could stall market-structure bills and leave the U.S. crypto industry in limbo, pushing activity toward offshore exchanges and DeFi protocols. No hearings are scheduled yet. The next concrete signal will come when Congress returns to session and committee chairs decide whether to take up AI or crypto bills—or leave both to the courts.
