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Washington, D.C. (April 2, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust, delivered opening remarks at the subcommittee hearing examining how Donald Trump dismantled key Artificial Intelligence (AI) safeguards and attacked independent regulators, leaving Americans vulnerable to the growing dangers of unregulated AI.

Below are Ranking Member Nadler’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at today’s subcommittee hearing.

WATCH  Ranking Member Nadler’s opening statement. 
Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler
Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust
Hearing on “Artificial Intelligence: Examining Trends in Innovation and Competition”
April 2, 2025

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our witnesses, particularly to Commissioner Bedoya, for joining us today.

As we examine innovation and competition with respect to artificial intelligence, we must keep in mind three simple truths: First, there is no artificial intelligence exception to the antitrust and consumer protection laws. Second, there is no DOGE exception to federal privacy protections. And finally, there is no presidential exception to following federal laws. It is a sad comment on the times we find ourselves in that these undeniable and basic propositions must be continually affirmed.

AI technology is rapidly advancing and promises to transform our society in ways we cannot even imagine today. But while AI will deliver many economic and social benefits, it also poses tremendous risks that we are just beginning to grapple with. And with control of AI technology in the hands of just a few entrenched companies, it is important that we keep a watchful eye on the industry with thoughtful regulation that will foster growth and innovation while protecting consumers.

One of the most critical tools in this effort is antitrust and consumer protection enforcement, led by the Federal Trade Commission—an independent administrative agency that was created more than 110 years ago by Congress as the nation was beset by powerful monopolies that dominated core industries in society. Its specific mission is protecting the public from deceptive or unfair business practices and from unfair methods of competition.

Its structure is inherently bipartisan with no more than three members of the five-person Commission able to be from a single party. This make-up, along with the fact that the commissioners are meant to serve staggered seven-year terms and are removable only for very specific causes, is designed to increase the independence and, thereby, the prestige of the Commission.

We need the FTC now more than ever, as we confront an AI induced wave of competition, consumer protection, and privacy-related issues. And yet, the Trump Administration is undermining the single agency best positioned to address them.

Years before ChatGPT burst onto the scene, the FTC was already working to protect consumers by stopping the largest semiconductor chip merger in history. Chips are an essential input to AI and blocking this merger helped protect innovation by preserving competition for this vital tool.

Using their unique power as part of the Commission’s study function, the FTC also produced a report examining AI investments and partnerships that would best enable the agency to ensure that when dominant companies pursued these practices, they did not undermine competition and innovation.

With more and more companies relying on AI to make fundamental decisions that affect consumers, the FTC has also carefully examined the algorithms that power these systems. In particular, the Commission has tackled algorithmic bias and algorithmic collusion– which is when a computer system systematically produces unfair outcomes or is used to engage in anticompetitive pricing respectively. 

This work is essential to ensure that as AI develops it serves the American people. If we are serious about promoting competition and innovation in AI, we need a strong FTC to enforce the law.

But instead, the Trump Administration has done all it can to undermine the agency and to weaken enforcement of antitrust and consumer protection laws. Even more troubling, while with one hand the Administration is undermining regulation of AI, with the other hand it is handing massive troves of sensitive data on millions of Americans to Elon Musk and his DOGE team that could be used to deploy AI throughout the government.

Governmental processes, its workflows, and the use and interpretation of governmental data are highly complex. There is scant evidence, however, that AI can be successfully deployed in government on such a far-reaching scale, but Musk and DOGE seem intent on forcing the American people to embark on a grand experiment based on little more than their faith in AI technology—an experiment that places all of our privacy and security at great risk.

And while all this unfolds, Commissioner Bedoya should be participating in any number of matters protecting consumers.

Even as a minority commissioner, he and his fellow Democratic commissioner, Rebecca Slaughter, occupy an important and Congressionally mandated role. They are fundamental to infusing commission deliberations and decisions with a bipartisan dimension.

Oftentimes minority Commissioners influence the outcome or logic of the decision. But, even when they do not, they perform the essential function of providing transparency into the process, including by highlighting key concerns in their dissents.

But instead of working to enhance competition in the AI industry and ensuring that proper safeguards are in place, they are forced to contest their blatantly unlawful termination by President Trump.

This unprecedented power grab followed similar efforts to remove Democratic members of other independent agencies without cause. As one court noted, these efforts “threaten to upend fundamental protections in our Constitution. But ours is not an autocracy; it is a system of checks and balances.”

Just as unchecked power by monopolies in the marketplace does not secure the best outcomes for consumers, unchecked government power does not secure the best outcomes for our democracy. We should be mindful of both points as we begin today’s hearing.

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses, and I yield back my time.