Guaranteeing and Upholding Americans' Right to Decide Responsible AI Laws and Standards Act

Applies To

Overview

Introduced by Representatives Don Beyer, Doris Matsui, Ted Lieu, Sara Jacobs, and April McClain Delaney, the GUARDRAILS Act directly challenges the Trump Administration's Executive Order 14365, which directed federal agencies to limit state interference with AI development and deployment. The bill's core provision would bar federal agencies from issuing rules, guidance, or other actions that preempt, supersede, or otherwise nullify state or local AI laws. This legislative approach reflects a broader congressional debate over whether AI governance authority should rest primarily at the federal or state level. If passed, the bill would restore and protect the legal standing of state AI statutes already enacted or under development across jurisdictions such as California, Colorado, and Texas. The bill has no companion Senate legislation publicly identified as of the date of introduction, and its path to enactment remains uncertain. Compliance teams operating across multiple U.S. states should monitor its progress as it would materially affect the enforceability of state-level AI obligations.

Key Requirements

• •Repeal Executive Order 14365, which directed federal restraint on state AI regulation preemption.
• •Prohibit federal agencies from taking any action, including rulemaking or guidance, that preempts state or local AI laws.
• •Preserve the ability of all 50 states and U.S. territories to independently enact, enforce, and update AI governance frameworks.
• •No private right of action, civil penalty, or enforcement timeline is specified in publicly available bill summaries; the bill operates as a structural constraint on federal agency authority.
• •No risk-tier classifications, registration requirements, or conformity assessments are established by this legislation.

What Your Organization Must Do

• →Monitor the bill's committee referral and hearing schedule to assess the likelihood and timeline of enactment before finalizing federal-versus-state compliance strategy.
• →Map all U.S. state AI laws applicable to your operations, as passage of this bill would confirm their enforceability without federal preemption risk.
• →Review any compliance decisions that were deferred on the assumption that EO 14365 would neutralize conflicting state AI requirements, and reassess those positions.
• →Engage legal counsel to analyze how repeal of EO 14365 would affect pending or planned product deployments governed by state AI statutes in California, Colorado, or other active jurisdictions.
• →Update government affairs and regulatory tracking protocols to capture both federal and state AI legislative developments as parallel, co-equal compliance tracks.
• →Brief senior leadership on the dual-track compliance scenario: one in which the bill passes and state laws are fully operative, and one in which it fails and federal preemption posture continues.