Good morning, it's Wednesday, Sept. 30. The biggest names in AI signed a pledge at the White House to police themselves. The same day, a bill to make safety rules mandatory was blocked in the Senate.

Also in today's issue: Third-country deportations restart, Border money for Trump ads, Medicaid cut for legal immigrants, A watchdog flags $810 million.

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If the AI assistant on your phone or at your job does something it shouldn't, who is supposed to catch it? As of Tuesday, the White House's answer is the company that built it.

President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson hosted the leaders of the biggest AI companies for lunch. Afterward, Trump and executives from Anthropic, Google, Meta, OpenAI, Nvidia and Elon Musk's xAI signed what Johnson called a voluntary "accord." Trump said it was "morally binding." Hold on to that phrase, because we'll come back to it.

Here's why it lands close to home. Half of Americans now use AI at least sometimes, but most don't want the industry grading its own homework. In a September SCSP-Gallup poll, 79% said the government should keep AI safety rules even if that slows progress. Only 35% wanted companies to test their own systems, while 75% wanted independent experts to do it.

So what did the companies promise? The text Trump shared says signers "believe" each company "should implement" internal controls and outside audits, according to ABC News. The document says turning these steps into law may make sense "over time." OpenAI and Anthropic had already committed to outside testers, so it's unclear what changes.

The timing matters. On Monday, OpenAI shelved its next major model after tests showed it didn't reliably stick to the tasks users approved.

Now the other half of Tuesday. On the Senate floor, Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, asked to pass a bill creating an AI Safety Board. Labs would have to hand the board new models 45 days before release and report safety incidents within 30 days, according to Roll Call. Senator Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who chairs the Commerce Committee, objected, which blocked it. Cruz says the board would hold too much power. He's writing his own bill with Majority Leader John Thune and Democrat Amy Klobuchar.

Both sides have a point. Johnson argues that rushed rules could slow American companies while China races ahead. Senator Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat, argues that companies heading toward record stock offerings can't be counted on to put safety over profit. Even some Republicans want more: Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri called for mandatory testing before release.

Here's the honest truth: we've been here before. In July 2023, the Biden White House got seven AI companies to sign voluntary safety pledges. That fall, Biden made part of it mandatory by executive order. Trump revoked that order on his first day back in office. So both parties have leaned on voluntary pledges, and "morally binding" still carries no penalty if one is broken.

Trump says he'll name a new AI czar within days. Congress is out until after the Nov. 3 election, so the lame-duck session this winter is the next real test of whether any of this becomes law.

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday let the Trump administration resume deporting migrants to countries that aren't their own. The order pauses lower-court rulings that required notice and a real chance to argue they could face torture there. The three liberal justices dissented. Under a March 2025 policy, officers can send people to a third country without naming it in advance, as long as that country promises not to persecute them. Deportees have been sent to South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Liberia. This is the third time the justices have sided with the administration on the policy. Full arguments come in December, with a final ruling likely by summer 2027. Until then, the flights can restart.

Border security money is paying for TV ads featuring President Trump, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine confirmed Tuesday. Federal records show $20 million moved Sept. 19 into a Customs and Border Protection fund for "commemorative events." The next day, Homeland Security signed a $20 million contract for a "national media campaign." The ads carry a "Paid for by the U.S. Government" label, and one closely tracks a 2024 Trump campaign ad. The White House calls them public service announcements. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Republican Senators John Kennedy and John Cornyn say taxpayers shouldn't foot the bill. Senator Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican, blocked a resolution saying so. Democratic appropriators have asked Homeland Security to answer six questions within 48 hours.

Starting Thursday, many immigrants living in the U.S. legally lose federally funded Medicaid under the 2025 tax-and-spending law. Refugees, people granted asylum, trafficking survivors and many Iraqis and Afghans on special visas are cut. Green card holders keep their coverage. Most of those losing it can get only Emergency Medicaid, which covers crises like heart attacks and strokes but not checkups or prescriptions. That's a hard blow for dialysis patients in states that don't treat scheduled dialysis as an emergency. States can still pay on their own: Oregon is moving about 7,000 people into a state program. The Congressional Budget Office projects 100,000 more uninsured by 2034 and $6.2 billion in federal savings, according to KFF.

Congress's nonpartisan watchdog said Tuesday that President Trump's plan to cancel $810 million lawmakers already approved breaks the law. The Government Accountability Office says a president can't let money expire on purpose to get around Congress. That's the maneuver here, called a "pocket rescission": the funds lapse when the fiscal year ends at midnight tonight, and the House is away until after the election. The biggest cut, $567 million, pays for refugee resettlement services. Others hit migrant students, housing counseling and health research. Budget director Russ Vought called the GAO "hyper partisan," and Senator Collins has called the move illegal. The opinion changes nothing unless the GAO sues. See the biggest cuts here.

That's how much the White House budget office moved on Sept. 19 into a border "commemorative events" fund that had held just $500,000. One day later, Homeland Security signed a $20 million contract for the TV campaign now featuring the president.

P.S. Can AI companies be trusted to police themselves? Hit Reply — one word is enough.