Pethokoukis: There's not much appetite in Congress to directly slow down the AI boom
December 26, 2025 • 3m 58s
? (Worldwide Exchange Anchor)
00:00.070
jimmy
we've
known
each
other
for
a
long
time
and
we've
talked
about
gridlock
in
congress
for
many
many
many
years
it
probably
i'm
just
guessing
that
if
you
have
the
commander
in
chief
taking
command
of
so
many
areas
that
were
previously
left
up
to
congress
that
might
make
? (Worldwide Exchange Anchor)
00:18.110
frustrations
even
worse
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
00:20.800
yeah
i
mean
to
some
degree
it
undermines
the
ability
of
congress
to
do
things
i
mean
most
people
in
congress
they
really
do
come
there
to
pass
laws
make
things
better
for
their
constituents
but
the
administration
would
mostly
rather
do
things
via
executive
off
via
an
executive
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
00:40.600
order
it's
just
so
much
easier
you
just
you
just
put
down
an
order
and
you
sign
it
you
don't
have
to
go
across
the
aisle
you
don't
have
to
come
up
with
compromises
all
that
stuff
is
really
really
hard
takes
a
while
there's
give
and
take
it's
much
easier
to
do
an
executive
order
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
00:54.710
and
there's
been
far
more
executive
orders
coming
down
than
actual
lawmaking
which
i
think
has
no
doubt
is
one
reason
why
you're
seeing
a
lot
of
people
just
they've
had
enough
they
want
to
leave
congress
we
? (Worldwide Exchange Anchor)
01:05.550
we
talk
a
lot
about
whether
there's
froth
in
the
AI
trade
how
much
are
you
hearing
in
washington
DC
that
has
to
do
with
putting
some
guardrails
perhaps
even
a
bump
in
the
road
on
this
raceway
toward
greater
and
greater
AI
gains
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
01:24.910
that's
interesting
i
think
still
in
congress
there's
just
not
a
huge
practical
appetite
for
doing
much
to
i
think
directly
slow
down
anything
with
AI
it's
reminds
me
a
lot
of
with
social
media
though
there's
always
a
lot
of
talk
about
new
rules
for
privacy
and
moderation
nothing
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
01:45.310
happened
i
think
we're
in
that
phase
with
AI
the
the
biggest
thing
i
think
liable
to
like
take
out
some
of
that
froth
if
you
think
it's
froth
and
slow
things
down
is
not
doing
things
they
need
to
do
to
make
sure
we
can
power
that
that
revolution
which
is
you
know
for
what
i
mean
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
02:01.070
there's
a
big
call
the
speed
act
it's
a
big
permitting
bill
if
that
i
mean
that
seems
like
exactly
if
you
think
AI
is
a
good
thing
that's
exactly
what
we
should
be
doing
making
it
easier
to
build
power
power
plants
transmission
lines
if
we're
unable
to
do
that
in
twenty
twenty
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
02:17.390
six
when
when
industry
is
screaming
you
know
for
that
for
that
those
kinds
of
capabilities
i
think
that
would
be
a
very
worrisome
sign
if
you're
very
bullish
on
AI
right
? (Worldwide Exchange Anchor)
02:28.470
now
that's
stalled
in
the
senate
the
the
question
mark
then
becomes
if
you
can't
build
fast
here
then
are
other
regions
in
the
world
for
instance
you
know
could
could
you
see
UAE
benefiting
from
the
data
centers
if
they
can't
get
built
here
in
the
meantime
we're
not
past
another
? (Worldwide Exchange Anchor)
02:44.870
risk
of
a
shutdown
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
02:48.000
you
know
gridlock
you
know
i
think
that's
you
know
with
the
permitting
that's
one
example
of
how
gridlock
really
is
not
always
good
you
know
more
sore
immediately
the
risk
of
a
shutdown
also
on
the
other
side
the
gridlock
is
not
good
so
like
you
know
before
these
people
leave
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
03:02.240
congress
there's
like
stuff
they
need
to
do
what
do
you
want
you
have
to
you
have
to
make
sure
that
you
know
the
government
you
know
if
it
shuts
down
reopens
you
have
to
come
to
an
agreement
there
you
have
to
ferry
you
want
to
do
about
these
healthcare
subsidies
there's
like
a
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
03:13.800
lot
of
stuff
that
needs
to
happen
fairly
soon
and
listen
we
had
all
this
uncertainty
and
we
still
do
you
know
what's
going
on
with
trade
are
you
know
are
there
going
to
be
new
tariffs
are
the
supreme
court
is
the
big
issue
this
year
are
they
going
to
throw
out
those
tariffs
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
03:27.910
what's
with
the
AI
i
think
getting
a
getting
government
getting
a
budget
settled
moving
forward
so
we
stopped
talking
about
shutdowns
would
be
a
nice
piece
of
certainty
to
add
and
what
is
probably
going
to
be
another
year
of
pretty
significant
uncertainty
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