Kweisi Mfume's Record on AI

Kweisi Mfume's Position on AI

Mfume's formal AI position in the record is support for a moratorium on construction and upgrades of covered AI data centers. The record lists him as a cosponsor of H.R. 9442, dated August 27, 2026, and does not list him as an original cosponsor.

A cosponsorship is a formal record of support. It is not a roll-call vote or a personal quotation.

Once enacted, the bill would halt construction or upgrading of new or existing covered AI data centers. The pause would end only after other laws set product review, worker and benefit-sharing protections, utility and environmental protections, community approval, a no-subsidies condition and union labor standards. Those laws would also have to expressly terminate the pause.

The bill sets no fixed expiry date. The pause ends only after those later laws are enacted and a law expressly terminates it.

Covered facilities include facilities used for AI models at scale. A second branch covers facilities over 20 megawatts with high-density rack power of at least 20 kilowatts or liquid or immersion cooling, and the bill does not automatically cover every server facility.

The bill would also require quarterly public Energy Department reports on financing, water, power, emissions, wastewater, cooling chemicals, noise, jobs, agreements and subsidies. Verification would include inspections and subpoenas. It would also restrict exports, reexports and in-country transfers of computing infrastructure for covered AI uses to entities in countries without comparable safeguards.

The rest of his record includes the following items. He joined a request to pause the SMART AI tool of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) at Washington-area airports, and he voted for a law restricting nonconsensual intimate depictions, including certain AI forgeries, and for a House bill that would help small businesses use AI. His fiscal year 2027 funding requests also include an AI-related drone facility.

Background at a Glance

Mfume's current office is U.S. Representative for Maryland's 7th Congressional District, according to the February 20, 2026 Congressional Directory. The directory gives his birth date as October 24, 1948, which makes him 78 years old on November 4, 2026.

The record gives his party as Democratic. His official biography separately identifies a Congressional Progressive Caucus affiliation, which the background section covers.

Background and Political Leaning

Mfume was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 24, 1948, according to the Congressional Directory. His official biography says he was raised in Baltimore.

He holds a B.S., magna cum laude, from Morgan State University in Baltimore, earned in 1976. He also holds an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, earned in 1984. The directory lists both degrees.

His career includes service on the Baltimore City Council from 1979 to 1986. The directory also lists him as chairman of the Board of Regents at Morgan State University, founding director of WEAA-FM Radio, and host of The Remarkable Journey, a syndicated television series from Hearst Broadcasting.

The directory also lists membership in Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Honor Society. It identifies two former roles: president and chief executive of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and executive director of the National Medical Association.

His official biography says he served in Congress before leading the NAACP in 1996, and that he returned to the House in a 2020 special election. The directory's career list is historical and does not establish current committee assignments for the 119th Congress.

The same biography identifies membership or leadership in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. That affiliation does not establish agreement with every policy or a more specific ideology.

Statements and Actions on AI

The sources show four AI-related actions by Mfume. Only the airport request includes a statement from him, and it is paraphrased below.

On October 9, 2026, Representative Don Beyer's office published a release announcing a call to pause the FAA's SMART AI tool at Washington-area airports. Mfume was one of the members named in that call. The request asked for a pause until safety testing, training and oversight concerns were addressed.

In the release, his own statement called for public transparency and evidence of safety. The request is conditional, and the release does not describe a permanent ban on AI at airports.

Mfume's fiscal year 2027 funding requests include $3 million for an outdoor drone testing and education facility at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, according to his request page. The requested uses include AI, autonomy, sensing, cybersecurity, robotics and workforce uses. The page is undated, and the request is not an award, appropriation or delivered project.

Mfume is also listed as a signatory to Representative Yassamin Ansari's September 17, 2026, letter seeking international AI security safeguards. Because the letter is joint, his listing shows that he signed it, not that he wrote or led it.

Policies Supported and Opposed

The sources list six AI-related entries for Mfume, and none is a vote or statement opposing an AI policy.

Mfume voted yes on the TAKE IT DOWN Act on April 28, 2025, when the House passed it 409 to 2. The measure became Public Law 119-12 on May 19, 2025, after Senate passage by unanimous consent on February 13, 2025, which left no recorded individual Senate roll call.

The enacted measure requires covered platforms to provide a notice and removal process within one year of enactment. Platforms must remove covered depictions within 48 hours of a valid request, with reasonable efforts to remove known identical copies.

The AI for Main Street Act passed the House 395 to 14 on January 20, 2026, and Mfume voted yes on the motion to suspend the rules and pass it as amended. As passed by the House, the text would require small business development centers to help businesses evaluate and use AI.

It would cover information, guidance, training and outreach on best practices, business operations, data and intellectual property, cybersecurity, regulatory compliance and trust. Section 3 authorizes no additional funding.

The bill has no law entry. The Senate received it and referred it to Small Business and Entrepreneurship on January 26, 2026.

A yes vote covers the whole bill, so it does not show agreement with each provision. A roll-call record shows how a member voted, not the reason for the vote.

Current Office and the 2026 Election

Mfume's current office is U.S. Representative for Maryland's 7th Congressional District. Baltimore Magazine reports that he won reelection in the 2026 midterm results.

The official biography says he returned to the House in a 2020 special election.

Scope and Open Questions

The restrictions Mfume supports each have a stated scope. The data center pause covers only facilities that meet the bill's definitions, the deepfake law covers specified intimate depictions, and the airport request covers one FAA tool at Washington-area airports.

H.R. 9442 is still a proposal in the record. Its latest listed action is a June 24, 2026, referral, which comes before Mfume's August 27, 2026, cosponsorship date, so the record may not show every later action.

The data center pause depends on later laws, and no such law appears in the record. The airport request is conditional, and the sources do not show whether the FAA acted on it.

The fiscal year 2027 drone facility request is undated, and the sources do not show whether it produced funding.

The directory's career history is historical and does not establish current committee assignments.

These sources cover only part of Mfume's public activity. A missing statement, vote or cosponsorship does not prove that he opposes an AI policy.

To see whether H.R. 9442 has moved since June 24, 2026, check later actions in the GovInfo bill status record, and compare the operative text on the Congress.gov bill text page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act law?

No. The sources show H.R. 9442 as a proposed bill, referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and, in addition, to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, with no enactment recorded. Mfume's cosponsorship is a formal record of support, not a vote on passage.

The bill text on Congress.gov shows the operative language, including the conditions that would end the pause.

Did Kweisi Mfume vote for the TAKE IT DOWN Act?

Yes. The House Clerk's roll call records Mfume as Yea on the House motion to suspend the rules and pass the TAKE IT DOWN Act on April 28, 2025. The House vote was 409 to 2, and the measure became Public Law 119-12 on May 19, 2025.

The enrolled text covers knowing publication of nonconsensual intimate depictions, including specified digital forgeries made with AI or other software, subject to the law's conditions and exceptions. It restricts specific harmful uses and does not ban all AI or synthetic media.

Does the record show Kweisi Mfume opposing AI?

No. The sources show no vote or personal statement opposing an AI policy, and they do not establish a general position on AI either way.

The record instead shows specific items: a cosponsorship of a proposed data center pause, participation in a request to pause an FAA AI tool at Washington-area airports, a fiscal year 2027 request for an AI-related drone facility, and yes votes on two House AI bills. A missing item is unknown, not evidence of opposition.

Did the FAA stop its SMART AI tool at Washington-area airports?

The sources do not show that. An October 9, 2026, release from Representative Don Beyer's office describes a congressional request to pause the FAA's SMART AI tool until safety testing, training and oversight concerns are addressed.

The release describes a request, not an agency decision. A pause of that kind is conditional, and it is not a permanent ban on all AI.