Washington, D.C. — A new report from the Center for American Progress (CAP) and Governing for Impact (GFI) explores the untapped statutory authority to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) across key federal agencies. The report identifies over 80 ways to leverage existing laws to drive progress in the absence of congressional action.
The document examines actions beyond those of agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, which has been central to AI regulation discussions. It suggests meaningful measures that could be undertaken by the White House, the Office of Management and Budget, financial regulators, and the departments of Labor, Education, and Housing and Urban Development. These actions include imposing binding AI-related obligations on federal contractors and requiring stress-testing and risk mitigation for AI systems used by financial institutions.
“There is no shortage of good ideas for regulating AI — it’s action that is harder to come by,” said Adam Conner, vice president for Technology Policy at CAP. “We’re proud to release this report that builds on the White House’s laudable 2023 executive order, outlining dozens of actionable next steps the federal government could take to tackle algorithmic discrimination, strengthen worker rights, mitigate systemic risks to our financial system and national security, and more.”
“If there’s one thing everyone seems to agree on when it comes to AI accountability, it’s that we vigorously enforce the laws on the books. But efforts to map that statutory authority across the federal government have been lacking,” said GFI Executive Director Rachael Klarman. “This report illuminates the breadth of untapped power agencies have at their disposal, offering a blueprint for taking swift and far-reaching actions grounded in existing law.”
The report provides specific agency recommendations including:
- The White House and its subordinate agencies
- The Department of Labor
- The Department of Education
- Housing regulators
- Financial regulatory agencies
The full report titled "Taking Further Agency Action on AI: How Agencies Can Deploy Existing Statutory Authority to Regulate Artificial Intelligence," is authored by Will Dobbs-Allsopp, Reed Shaw, Anna Rodriguez, Todd Phillips, Rachael Klarman, Adam Conner, Nicole Alvarez, and Ben Olinsky.
For further information or expert consultation on this topic, contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].
