Ali Swenson, Author at The Rapid City Post

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., walks to board a bus to the White House with other Senate Republicans for a meeting with President Donald Trump on his spending and tax bill, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

How a GOP rift over tech regulation doomed a ban on state AI laws in Trump’s tax bill

July 2, 2025

A stark disagreement over regulating AI in Republicans’ tax cut and spending bill is the latest tension among conservatives about whether to let states continue to put guardrails on emerging technologies or minimize such interference. The advocates for guardrails won this time, after a proposed moratorium on state AI legislation was removed from the congressional bill this week. The episode revealed the enormous influence of a segment of the Republican Party that has come to distrust Big Tech. They believe states must remain free to protect their citizens against potential harms of the industry, whether from AI, social media or emerging technologies. Other conservatives saw the moratorium as essential for the country to compete against China in the race for AI dominance.

FILE - Elon Musk attends a news conference with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Elon Musk renews his criticism of Trump’s big bill as Senate Republicans scramble to pass it

June 28, 2025

Elon Musk is doubling down on his distaste for President Donald Trump’s sprawling tax and spending cuts bill. In a social media post on Saturday, Musk argued the legislation that Republican senators are scrambling to pass would kill jobs and bog down burgeoning industries. Ahead of a procedural Senate vote Saturday to open debate on the nearly 1,000-page bill, Musk wrote that it would “cause immense strategic harm to our country.” The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, whose birthday is also Saturday, later posted that the bill would be “political suicide for the Republican Party.” The criticisms reopen a recent fiery conflict between the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency and the administration he recently left.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, right, and FBI Director Kash Patel speak during a news conference at the Department of Justice, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump has long warned of a government ‘deep state.’ Now in power, he’s under pressure to expose it

May 30, 2025

President Donald Trump has built a coalition by promising to demolish a so-called deep state that he claims is behind dark government conspiracies. But four months into his second term, his administration hasn’t arrested hordes of corrupt officials or revealed massive crimes from within its ranks. As a result, some of the president’s supporters who took him at his word are getting restless. They are asking why his administration, which now holds the keys to chasing down these alleged government secrets, is denying them the evidence and retribution they expected. One conservative commentator lamented: “People are tired of not knowing.”

Ali Swenson.

How a GOP rift over tech regulation doomed a ban on state AI laws in Trump’s tax bill

Elon Musk renews his criticism of Trump’s big bill as Senate Republicans scramble to pass it

Trump has long warned of a government ‘deep state.’ Now in power, he’s under pressure to expose it

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