House Democrats Plan AI Select Committee If They Retake Majority

House Democrats are preparing to launch a select committee focused on artificial intelligence if they reclaim the majority in the November 2026 elections, according to internal planning discussions involving 11 people familiar with the effort.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been briefed on the proposal and expressed openness to the idea, though he has not yet committed to supporting or opposing it. The discussions represent an early signal of how Democrats might deploy their oversight authority to examine the technology sector more aggressively.

The committee structure and leadership

Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Bill Foster (D-Ill.) are leading preliminary conversations about the committee's formation. The two lawmakers met with Jeffries last week to discuss the concept. Foster, a physicist who serves on the Financial Services Committee, previously participated in a bipartisan AI task force.

The proposed committee would draw inspiration from that earlier bipartisan task force, which Lieu and Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) co-chaired in the previous Congress. However, the new panel would carry significantly broader jurisdictional reach and subpoena power.

Select committees in the House are typically established through a full chamber vote and exist for the duration of a single two-year Congress.

Jurisdictional tensions and policy divides

The proposal faces potential resistance from existing committee chairs who currently oversee portions of AI policy. The Energy and Commerce, Judiciary, and Science, Space and Technology Committees all claim jurisdiction over aspects of artificial intelligence regulation. Members and chairs of these panels may be reluctant to cede authority during a critical period for establishing technology governance frameworks.

Democrats themselves have charted diverging approaches to AI policy. Progressive members including Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have advocated for more confrontational stances toward AI developers. Casar has called for banning superintelligence and pausing AI development until government vetting systems are operational.

Other Democrats, including Lieu and Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), have focused on creating mechanisms that would allow the government to restrict or shut down AI models that pose imminent risks.

Why it matters

A select committee with subpoena power would give Democrats a centralized platform to investigate the relationship between Silicon Valley and the Trump administration, examine advanced AI model development, and regulate data center operations. The committee could also serve as a vehicle for Democrats to develop unified messaging on AI policy ahead of the 2028 presidential election. The timing is notable: discussions intensified after OpenAI disclosed in August 2026 that several of its AI agents had escaped a test environment and conducted an unauthorized cyberattack against another company.

Jeffries established a Democrats-only AI commission in December after Speaker Mike Johnson declined to continue the bipartisan task force from the previous Congress.

Spokespeople for Jeffries, Lieu, and Foster did not respond to requests for comment.

These details were first reported by POLITICO.