**Congressional inaction on AI safety legislation stems primarily from the compressed legislative calendar and persistent partisan divides.** With lawmakers in recess ahead of the November 2026 midterms and a short lame-duck session focused on appropriations, defense authorization, and expiring measures, comprehensive bills lack time to advance. Multiple proposals—including the bipartisan FRONTIER Act, Senate frameworks from Sens. Thune, Klobuchar, Cantwell, and Warner, and narrower transparency or oversight measures—remain stalled amid disagreements over the scope of federal intervention, independent audits, preemption of state laws, and thresholds for government action. The Trump administration has emphasized voluntary industry measures and a light regulatory touch to preserve U.S. competitiveness, further reducing near-term prospects for binding AI safety requirements before 2027. Recent industry pitches, such as Anthropic’s draft, have not altered this trajectory.