Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told reporters on July 30 that the committee will postpone its broader AI markup, including the fight over federal preemption of state AI laws, until September. In its place, an Aug. 5 markup will advance five children’s online safety and AI-adjacent bills, led by the Kids Online Safety Act (S. 1748), the SCREEN Act, the Youth AI Privacy Act, the CHATBOT Act, and the Children’s Artificial Intelligence Toy Safety Act.

Cruz had eyed July 29 for the AI markup. Nothing was scheduled. He’s now negotiating with Democrats to find bills, per the Washington Times, with “the best chance of bipartisan support.”

The pivot follows a July 20 Oval Office meeting among President Trump, Cruz, and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on an AI omnibus that would’ve paired KOSA with state preemption. Per IAPP, the meeting didn’t produce a Trump endorsement. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Senate Democrats have resisted preemption on the grounds that states are doing substantive work on election deepfakes the federal bill wouldn’t replicate.

The math is unforgiving. As of July 21, the 119th Congress had 33 shared Senate-House working days left on its calendar. Splitting the markup buys the kids-safety package a lane while conceding that the preemption fight, the actual prize for industry, doesn’t have the votes yet.

KOSA’s “duty of care” provision, which makes platforms liable for design features that harm minors, is the real fault line. The House already stripped it: the KIDS Act passed 267-117 without it. Blackburn, KOSA’s Senate champion, is leaving Congress after the midterms. September is when a bill either exists or it doesn’t.

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