Trump's budget bill moves back to the House with some mods

It took a tie-breaking vote from the Vice President JD Vance to pass Trump's budget reconciliation bill through the Senate on Tuesday, but a controversial section that would have barred states from regulating AI was struck down in a much clearer fashion. 

Lawmakers were definitive in their vote, with 99 voting to strip the state AI amendment and just a single Senator - Thom Tillis (R-NC) - voting to keep the moratorium in place. Even Ted Cruz (R-TX), who had wrangled last-minute concessions out of Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) that would have seen her support the state restriction, abandoned his position when Blackburn backed out. 

The rule was part of the House-passed version of Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" budget reconciliation act, and would have prevented US states from making any state-level laws governing AI systems, with a few exceptions. The moratorium was originally designed to last for a decade. 

Blackburn ...