Consumer Advocates Declare Trump’s AI Executive Order Potentially Illegal

President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at blocking states from crafting their own artificial intelligence regulations could be illegal, consumer advocacy groups assert.

“The good news is, this EO [executive order] is mostly bluster. The President cannot unilaterally preempt state law. States should refuse to be cowed in regulating Big Tech,” said Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, in a statement.

“We expect the EO to be challenged in court and defeated; in the meantime, states should continue their efforts to protect their residents from the mounting dangers of unregulated AI.”

Public Citizen describes itself as a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that “champions the public interest in the halls of power.”

The National Consumer Law Center stated the executive order “flies in the face of the critical and constitutional role states have in protecting the public.”

“States have a vital role in protecting the public from the myriad of known and unknown risks of AI, which can be used to improperly reject people for credit, jobs, and housing; freeze or steal bank accounts; abuse and share private data; and raise the cost of living through surveillance pricing,” said Lauren Saunders, associate director and director of federal advocacy at the center.

John Bergmayer, legal director of the nonprofit advocacy group Public Knowledge, added that an executive order cannot preempt state legislative action. “They’re trying to find a way to bypass Congress with these various theories in the executive order. Legally, I don’t think they work very well.”

Trump’s executive order, signed Thursday, directs the attorney general to create a new task force to challenge state laws and instructs the Department of Commerce to compile a list of problematic regulations. It also threatens to restrict federal funding from broadband deployment programs and other grant initiatives to states with AI-related legislation.

Four U.S. states — California, Colorado, Texas, and Utah — have enacted laws that set rules for artificial intelligence in the private sector, according to the International Association of Privacy Professionals. These laws include restrictions on the collection of certain personal information and requirements for greater transparency from companies.

The laws respond to AI technologies that already impact everyday life, helping make consequential decisions for Americans such as job interviews, apartment leases, home loans, and medical care. Research has shown these systems can produce errors in those decisions, including by prioritizing specific genders or races.

States’ proposed AI regulation measures require private companies to provide transparency and assess potential risks of discrimination from their algorithms.

By Solange Reyner
Friday, 12 December 2025 03:47 PM EST