Bernie Sanders

Sanders formally introduced legislation compelling OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI to transfer 50% equity to a federally managed fund via a one-time ownership tax, projecting a ~$7T reserve paying 5% annual dividends ($1,000+ per American) with healthcare, education, and housing earmarks. He met Sam Altman, who was "not enthusiastic," and told him Congress has failed to act on AI "precisely because of the huge amounts of money" from the industry. Trump called the concept "very interesting" and said their economic views "are not far apart" — an unexpected convergence that has Palantir CEO Alex Karp predicting full nationalization within two years and David Sacks warning Republicans the framework could be weaponized by future Democratic administrations. Sanders is also weaponizing tech CEO layoff rhetoric — citing Zuckerberg's 10% cuts — asking what AI will do to ordinary workers.

Sanders and AOC co-introduced the Intelligence (AI) Data Center Moratorium Act in March 2026 to halt new data-center expansion until national safeguards exist. The bill is the federal flank of a spreading local backlash — Monterey Park CA banned data centers, NY passed a one-year moratorium, 14-plus states are considering moratoriums, and 75-plus projects ($130B) were delayed in Q1 2026. The coalition is split: Ohio AFL-CIO backs construction jobs, AI-corporate lobbying hit $226M in 2025, and Tom Cotton alleges foreign influence is stalling development. The bill competes with several other congressional proposals to protect ratepayers from data-center energy costs.

Sanders traveled the country rallying for DSA-backed mayoral candidates — Janeese Lewis George in DC, Zohran Mamdani in NYC, Katie Wilson in Seattle, Nithya Raman in an LA runoff — as DSA-backed candidates won 35 primaries in the 2026 cycle, including Avila Chevalier over Espaillat and Lander over Goldman. He appeared at a Brooklyn rally with Mamdani endorsing a socialist House slate (Claire Valdez, Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier) challenging Democratic incumbents, a direct proxy fight with Hakeem Jeffries. Sanders delivered the keynote at the Texas Democratic state convention in Corpus Christi on June 25, the largest Democratic gathering in the country, drawing GOP attacks tying Texas Democrats to socialism.

Sanders is standing by Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner amid mounting allegations — sexual texts to multiple women, a Nazi-linked tattoo, mocking a wounded veteran — deflecting that "maybe rather than worrying about Graham Platner's marriage, we worry about what's happening to the working families." He frames billionaire-funded GOP super PAC opposition as itself a reason to vote for Platner. Warren and Schumer also stand by the nominee; Fetterman calls him "degenerate" and Khanna condemns misogyny while supporting a "path to redemption."

Sanders and Khanna introduced the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act — a 5% annual wealth tax on net worth over $1B, projected to raise $4.4T over a decade. He also co-introduced the Social Security Expansion Act with 10 co-sponsors, providing a permanent $200/month benefit increase, CPI-E indexing, elimination of the earnings cap above $250K, and 75-year solvency extension. Both face a GOP-controlled Congress and likely Trump veto. The wealth-tax bill is part of a four-bill Democratic wave including Warren's Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act.