A group of House members is pressing Speaker Mike Johnson to scrap the chamber's looming six-week recess and keep Congress in Washington until it passes safeguards on artificial intelligence, warning of "catastrophic risk posed by advanced artificial intelligence," Axios reported.
The letter, drafted by Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-CA) and co-signed by Reps. George Whitesides (D-CA) and Lori Trahan (D-MA), was still circulating for signatures as of Friday. It calls on the House to "return to Washington immediately and remain in session until Congress advances meaningful, bipartisan AI safeguards."
The House reconvenes Monday and is scheduled to sit for just one more week before breaking for roughly six weeks, not returning until Nov. 9. The letter casts that narrow window as a test of whether lawmakers are serious about the nation's most pressing challenges.
The push follows an unsettling week in the world of AI, in which current and former Anthropic researchers went public with warnings that the technology could wipe out humanity within the decade. The letter points to a stack of stalled bipartisan bills, including one that would require AI systems to carry a human-controlled "kill switch," that it says deserve debate and a vote.
Johnson plans a vote next week on a bill to keep data centers from driving up energy costs, but has given no sign the House will take up AI regulation before Election Day.
The letter closed with a warning: "To our children who will have read a post-apocalyptic history, 'Why Congress Slept' — likely written by agentic AI — our inaction will be inexplicable, and unforgivable."