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Prediction track record
How often we called Steve Daines's passage votes correctly, from their stated positions on each bill's tagged topics. Excludes “unclear” calls and abstentions.
109 predictions on record · none have been resolved by a passage vote yet. Check back as bills move.
Pending vote119-hr-5123
Indoor Air Quality and Healthy Schools Act of 2025
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to temporarily suspend certain fuel excise taxes for fuel separated during periods in which the national average price of gasoline exceeds $3.99 per gallon, and to prohibit certain credits or deductions for oil and gas companies during such periods.
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Crossing the aisle
No party-break passage votes recorded for Steve Daines. Either they've voted with Republicans on every substantive passage vote in the corpus, or their tenure overlaps few high-threshold party-line votes so far.
Daines Urges ITC to Level the Playing Field, Defend American Sheep Producers - Senator Steve Daines
Position: Senator Daines and Representative Maloy urge the U.S. International Trade Commission to provide relief to domestic sheep producers from lamb meat imports through a Section 201 safeguard remedy, citing significant economic harm to American sheep farms and rural communities.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Steve Daines and Representative Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) today led a letter to the U.S. International Trade Commission Chairman urging strong support for U.S. sheep producers and relief from damages resulting from sheep imports to ensure U.S. producers are able to compete on a level playing field.
“As Members of Congress who proudly represent growers and processors in the American sheep industry, we write regarding the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (Commission) global safeguard investigation of lamb meat imports pursuant to Sections 201-204 of the Trade Act of 1974. During this investigation, we urge the Commission to carefully consider the data and testimony before it regarding the significant challenges faced by American sheep producers. And should the Commission make an affirmative determination in accordance with the statute, we urge the Commission to recommend a remedy that provides prompt and meaningful relief to the domestic industry.
The families behind America’s sheep farms and ranches have faced mounting pressures, including from rapidly increasing imports, which negatively impact our rural communities and domestic food production. The U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) July 13, 2026, letter directing the Commission to initiate the Section 201 investigation states that “import statistics indicate that lamb meat imports…have increased in recent years” and “[a]vailable information suggests that these imports have resulted in domestic industry lost sales, revenues, and market share as imported lamb meat significantly undersold the domestic like product.” USTR’s letter further states that “firms have exited the domestic industry entirely, and there have been domestic industry job losses, decreased capacity utilization rates, and struggles to maintain profitability,” they wrote in the letter.
Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), John Curtis (R-Utah), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined Daines in sending the letter.
Representatives Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), James Baird (R-Ind.), Brian Babin (R-Texas), Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.), Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.), Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Kat Cammack (R-Fla.), John R. Carter (R-Texas), James Comer (R-Ky.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Jeff Crank (R-Colo.), Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas), Donald G. Davis (D-N.C.), Troy Downing (R-Mont.), Gabe Evans (R-Colo.), Brad Finstad (R-Minn.), Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.), Vince Fong (R-Calif.), Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho), James Gallagher (R-Calif.), Adam Gray (D-Calif.), Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.), Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas), Tracey Mann (R-Kan.), Max Miller (R-Ohio), Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Burgess Owens (R-Utah), Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), David Rouzer (R-N.C.), David J. Taylor (R-Ohio), Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.), David Valadao (R-Calif.), Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), Roger Williams (R-Texas), Rudy Yakym (R-Ind.), Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), and Michael Simpson (R-Idaho) also joined Daines in sending the letter.
Daines Talks U.S.-China Relations at Nixon Foundation’s Grand Strategy Summit - Senator Steve Daines
Position: Senator Daines expresses concern about China's rapid technological advancement, particularly in AI, biotech, and pharmaceutical innovation, and warns that the U.S. risks losing competitive advantage if innovation ecosystems and supply chains continue to shift to China.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today spoke at the Nixon Foundation’s 2026 Grand Strategy Summit, where he laid out a vision for the future of U.S.-China relations.
Watch Daines’ full remarks HERE.
Daines on his background working in China:
[My history with] China began back in 1991. I was a chemical engineer by degree, and I began work for Procter & Gamble in management…I spent seven years managing operations in the United States, and I got a call one day from our senior executive team that asked if we might be willing to go over to China 1991 to launch our businesses there, to take American brands, compete against the Chinese brands, and, of course, that massive consumer market. So my wife and I, we had 18-month-old little David at that point and little three-month-old Annie, we moved to Guangzhou in January of 1992. It was about a 400 billion dollar economy then… we got to see firsthand the incredible evolution, arguably an economic revolution, that's occurred in China. We were the first non-state-owned enterprise allowed to recruit on the campuses of China…so I think part of my role here in Washington, I feel like Paul Revere, trying to just build awareness in terms of what's at stake in the competition we face in China. It's a world-class innovation ecosystem that is rapidly progressing.
Daines on the tech ecosystem in China vs the U.S.:
When I bring U.S. senators over to China, my goal is for them to understand the technology ecosystem. There's a lot of goals you can have for a visit, but I want them to really understand that. Because there's a lot of, I would call it, rear-view mirror thinking on China that's primarily a supply chain issue…They can do a phase one clinical trial now in half the time that the United States does a phase one clinical trial to basically FDA standards. It's not a perfect model, but more or less. So they've been able to get all the good coming from an FDA process for safety without the incredible regulatory burdens that we face sometimes that slow us down to getting drugs out to market faster. But number two, they do it at 20 percent of the cost…if you remember, Europe used to be the epicenter of pharma research and development and innovation. That shifted to the United States because of Europe's overreaching regulation and government burden. It came to the United States. If you look at… clinical trial starts globally last year. The United States was at 45 percent a few years ago. It dropped down to 35 percent. China has come from nowhere to last year with 32 percent. So that's one example. We talk a lot about AI, but I also keep an eye on the biotech and biopharma ecosystem. That's very, very important. So if the… Innovation ecosystem supply chain shifts to China, which it's doing right now as we speak. That becomes yet another, I think, concern for us in America as it relates to the next breakthrough, cancer drug, brain disease drug, Alzheimer's, and so forth.
Daines on China’s AI adoption:
They're [China is] doing a much better job of adoption, as I mentioned. At least Stanford's ranking says number two. And you see it diffusing much more into their industry. At Zheijing university in Hangzhou, as I mentioned, it is an AI-driven curriculum now on the campus. They took us through. We met with the university officials. It's pretty much free-form AI that the students use now to developing their learnings and by the way China graduates three times more PhDs every year than we do and five to ten times more engineers every year that we do and so not only is their ecosystem now becoming world class but it's growing larger.
Daines on peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan:
What we did is we brokered a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia. And I was playing a shuttle diplomat between Baku and Yerevan, and I'll tell you the secret sauce here was President Trump. They didn't trust each other necessarily, but the United States had to step in the middle of that as the superpower and broker that deal. They came to Washington on August 8th last year and signed a peace agreement. I was up at UNGA last week, Wednesday, and we had the Central Asian and South Caucasus countries in one room. We had the foreign minister of Azerbaijan sitting next to the foreign minister of Armenia. And rather than talking about bloodshed and maybe thinking about a ceasefire and figuring out a way through this, you can see it in their body language and certainly their remarks, they're both talking about their optimism right now economically as they're opening up that corridor. As Brzezinski wrote in his book, The Grand Chessboard in the late 1990s, he said Central Asia is the wine bottle, the South Caucasus is the cork. We've popped the cork. And one of the best ways to understand that part of the world in a very simple… 10-second illustration. If you look at a, like, FlightAware, an app that shows where the air traffic is around the world, you can see the airplanes shoot the gap there between Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, because they can't overfly Russia, and they can't overfly Iran, and then it explodes again. It spreads out again as they move through that little choke point. That choke point has just gotten opened up. And what that means is you've got incredible oil and gas reserves there certainly in Central Asia. Kazakhstan is the leading supply of uranium in the world. Turkmenistan is the fourth largest reserves of natural gas in the world. Severely underutilized. If we can start moving those resources, given what's going on in the Strait of Hormuz at the moment, having an alternative kind of routing. that bypasses Russia and Iran and comes through the Caucasus, then you can go to the Black Sea, Turkey, or to Europe. This is absolutely a breakthrough moment for us. And so that whole Trans-Caspian opportunity is now opening up before our very eyes. And I credit Steve Witkoff and Areyh Lightstone and the President.
Daines Bill to Support Floodplain Ecosystem Restoration Passes U.S. Senate, One Step Closer to Becoming Law - Senator Steve Daines
Position: Senator Daines supports expedited federal permitting for ecosystem restoration projects in floodplains that meet low-risk criteria, arguing this streamlines conservation work while maintaining flood safety standards.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today announced that his bill, the “Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act,” passed the U.S. Senate and now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill creates a new expedited pathway for ecosystem restoration projects that meet low-risk criteria, streamlining approval for important restoration work while still upholding flood safety standards.
“This is huge news for Montana. Critical ecosystem restoration projects across our state have been abandoned due to FEMA’s onerous and costly ‘No Rise’ rule. This commonsense, bipartisan bill will reduce unnecessary burdens on important conservation and restoration work, while continuing to keep our communities safe from flooding, and I’m glad to see it pass the Senate. Next step: the U.S. House!” said Daines.
Under current Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) policy, any proposed development in a regulated floodway must prove that it will not increase the base flood elevation (BFE) of the area. This requirement is commonly referred to as the “No Rise” rule. While important for protecting communities from increased flood risks, it has had major unintended consequences on important environmental restoration in Montana and around the country. The “Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act” will create a new pathway only for ecosystem restoration projects that result in less than a one-foot increase in BFE and has no adverse impact to critical infrastructure.
Read the release from when Daines introduced the bill HERE.
Daines Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Hyde Amendment: “Every Life, Born and Unborn, is Valued” - Senator Steve Daines
Position: Senator Daines celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortion services. He expresses support for maintaining and strengthening the Hyde Amendment, opposes federal funding to Planned Parenthood, and commits to working to reinstate and make permanent a temporary ban on Medicaid funding to the organization.
Sponsors Resolution Commemorating Hyde Amendment’s Legacy
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today joined Americans United for Life at their September 30th rally celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment. Originally enacted in 1976, this amendment has saved the lives of millions of unborn children and protected taxpayers from violating their conscience by funding elective abortions.
Daines today also joined Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) in introducing a resolution to recognize the Hyde Amendment’s legacy over the past 50 years. Read the resolution HERE.
Watch Daines’ full remarks at the Americans United for Life rally HERE:
Read Daines’ remarks as prepared for delivery:
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment-one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in our nation’s history that defends the unborn and taxpayer conscience.
The Hyde Amendment protects the constitutional right to religious liberty and affirms that federal funds cannot be used to fund abortions.
A majority of Americans support this.
And yet, pro-abortion advocates attempt to undermine Hyde daily.
In their own 2024-2025 report, Planned Parenthood reported that they received $832 million in federal funds through Medicaid and Title X.
This Medicaid funding was temporarily blocked for one year thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts and Jobs act, which I was proud to support.
But one year has passed, and Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood has resumed again.
I will work with my colleagues in Congress to reinstate this ban and make it permanent.
We also need to educate the next generation about how dangerous the abortion pill is, for both babies and for the women who take it. This is the left’s next battleground, and we can’t let them win.
The grassroots movement, from our AUL doorknockers to the church ministries to the pregnancy clinics, is critically important.
Thank you to everyone here- you are true examples of what it means to fight for what’s right, even when it’s not easy.
And most importantly, we need your prayers.
Prayer is the most powerful tool that we have on our side.
I’ll close with Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart.”
I’m hopeful that one day, by the grace of God, abortion will be unthinkable and every preborn child will be protected by law.
Daines Urges Support for Israel on Senate Floor: “Democrats are Distorting Reality for Political Gain” - Senator Steve Daines
Position: Senator Daines opposes a Senate resolution that would condition or restrict military aid to Israel, arguing that the resolution mischaracterizes Israel's actions and unfairly isolates a key U.S. ally.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today spoke on the Senate floor in opposition to an anti-Israel resolution proposed by Senate Democrats.
Daines’ remarks as prepared for delivery:
Mr. President, with this misguided resolution, the Democrats are trying to distort reality for political gain.
Make no mistake, the sole objective here is not justice or accountability for Americans; it is to cut off security aid to our ally Israel in its time of need.
Of course, any loss, all loss, of American life is a tragedy. Ambassador Huckabee has called for an investigation into these deaths, and I am very confident this Administration will get to the bottom of this issue.
But this one-sided resolution shames one of our strongest allies and minimizes the Palestinian Authority’s role in inciting terrorist violence, including against Americans through their horrific “pay for slay” program which rewards terrorists with over 200 million dollars a year.
Rather than any serious attempt at accountability or justice, this is sadly another cynical ploy by Democrats to isolate our closest ally in the region and turn Israel’s righteous war of self-defense into a domestic political issue, as we’re now 30 days from an election.
For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote no on this resolution so we can stand with our ally Israel as they beat back the scourge of Iranian-backed terrorism.
Daines Reacts to Historic Trump-Xi Summit at the White House Ahead of Attending State Dinner - Senator Steve Daines
Position: Senator Daines expresses support for the Trump administration's diplomatic engagement with China, characterizing the summit as demonstrating respect and stability in U.S.-China relations. He emphasizes the importance of managing the relationship constructively while noting ongoing discussions on trade, AI, and other disputes.
Joins Fox News, Bloomberg TV, and Fox News Rundown
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today spoke with national media to discuss President Xi Jinping’s historic visit to the White House.
Watch the full interview with Martha MacCallum on Fox News HERE.
Daines on outcomes of Trump-Xi summit:
I think it's important to frame the bigger picture. These are the two largest economies in the world, the United States and China, the two largest militaries in the world, the United States and China. And on technology, the two leading countries in terms of AI frontier models, it's the United States and China. They do a better job adopting AI. They're ranked second in the world, according to Stanford. We're ranked 24th. So we're ahead in terms of innovation. We're behind in terms of adoption. I think a couple of key outcomes from this summit, will be, number one, showing the stability of the relationship. It's very important to see both President Trump and President Xi Jinping working in a constructive manner in that public-facing environment. Behind closed doors, Secretary Bessent, Vice Premier He Lifeng, they've been having some very direct conversations and sorting out some of the trade disputes, AI disputes, Iran and so forth. But it's important in working with the Chinese and their government is to show respect publicly, have the spirit of conversations behind closed doors. That has been my experience of finding the most effective way to manage a productive relationship.
Watch the full interview with Joe Mathieu on Bloomberg TV HERE.
Daines on historic Trump-Xi visit:
I think it'll be seen in China as respect. That's a very important term as we think about this
relationship. Something that the Chinese admire is that President Trump is being very respectful of this visit. And it's a spirit of reciprocity as well. The Chinese literally rolled out red carpet and provided respect to President Trump when he was in Beijing in May. I think when you step back,
it's just very important to remember that the United States and China are the two largest economies in the world by far. They comprise about 42 percent of the world's GDP. It's the world's two largest militaries. Of course, the two countries that have leadership in terms of frontier models of AI. So I look at this relationship as really too big to fail. And I'm very appreciative of what President Trump has been doing to stay engaged in a respectful manner. A lot of the substance in terms of discussions will be going on behind closed doors. A lot of it was done ahead of time with Secretary Bessent and the Vice Premier. So far, so good. I'll be there tonight at the dinner and have a chance to see President Trump, who again put on quite a respectful show for President Xi.
Watch the full interview with Peter Doocy on Fox News Rundown HERE.
Daines on the race in AI against China:
I was just in Hangzhou a few weeks ago. Hangzhou, China is a city about the size of New York City. It's one of the epicenters of AI innovation for China. Zhejiang University is there, which got ranked number one in the world in research, actually ahead of Harvard for the first time in 20 years. We cannot take lightly what China is doing right now in this AI race. It's very important that we continue to lead. Peter, I agree with you. We lead right now in terms of capabilities on these frontier models, but where we're behind is in adoption of AI. We're ranked 24th by Stanford. China's ranked second behind the UAE. So, this is all about ensuring that we have the right kind of guardrails in place, but not inhibiting innovation. That takes wise and thoughtful leadership here in the United States. This is not a good time to have a public discourse on. As you can see, there's this kind of hysteria in Washington. When you're 41 days away from an election, it’s not a good time to be having public debate right now in AI. It's really become almost hysterical. We need to have calm, thoughtful heads prevailing in this discussion.
…I think there's probably both. I will say this. I applaud what Secretary Bessent has been framing in terms of trying to deconflict what could be pinch points and friction as it relates to AI between our two countries. Similar to mill-to-mill kind of engagements, if two subs bump in the night in the Taiwan Strait we want to have a mill-to-mill red phone there to deconflict. I think the same thing could be true for AI. Secretary Bessent is on the right track there. But I think the Chinese listen to both. I think it's important that the right kind of rhetoric and tone is set at the top because the governments will flex down through the bureaucracies according to how the leaders flex. If Xi Jinping and President Trump are having positive dialogue, we need to have that kind of dialogue down the stack from a bureaucratic viewpoint as well as in the private sector.
Daines Joins Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in NYC, Touts Administration’s Peace Efforts in Central Asia and South Caucasus - Senator Steve Daines
Position: Senator Daines expresses support for increased U.S. diplomatic engagement and peace-building efforts in Central Asia and the South Caucasus region, emphasizing the importance of establishing relationships with regional leaders and facilitating peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Steve Daines joined Special Envoy Steve Witkoff for an event with the Board of Peace during the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Read highlights below.
Daines on his involvement with Central Asia:
I remember the book The Global Chess Board that Dr. Brzezinski wrote back in the late 1990s. And he observed back then of the important interconnection between certainly Central Asia and the South Caucases. And you've all heard the analogy, but I took it from Brzezinski book about if we could find a way to pop the cork of the South Caucases, it would unleash the wine from Central Asia. And that's a picture of something I could understand. And somebody who loved geography and history, even though I was trained in engineering, I loved the arts. When you take a look at a map and look at the geopolitical complexity of the region where our dear friends here live, it says if we could find ways to bring peace and to stabilize that part of the world, the prosperity that would be gained by Central Asia, the South Caucases and frankly throughout the world is something worth pursuing. And so it began years ago. But one of the challenges, Areyh, is that senators just don't get over there that often. In fact, I was shocked when I started traveling in the region how infrequent the visits were from members of Congress. And yes, it's a ways away, but it's not that hard to get to at the end of the day. It's just a matter of will and priority. And once we started to engage, we realized that this is a part of the world that wants to have a relationship in a more significant way with the United States. It was our problem of not making that easy. The Central Asia, South Caucases were leaning in. We just weren't showing up. We started to show up, started to develop those relationships, hear the concerns and the issues on the ground there, and it started to gain momentum. And of course, look at this room today. This is just incredible.
Daines on establishing peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan:
Well first of all, let's give credit where credit's due. Honestly, what Steve Witkoff began, what you began is something that I started to see and to you all's credit, you brought me along into that process. So I can't take the credit for any of this. The credit goes to those in the room truly, but it was yourself and Steve Witkoff and John Askonas that started to frame something that could be very, very special. And I remember that first breakfast we had in Baku and we had the meeting with the President and it went very well. You could just tell there were common values and the most important currency in diplomacy is trust. It's trust and that's on a human level. And after completing the travels through the South Caucases, the Central Asia, meeting every one of the leaders, I remember I come back home and see my sweet wife Cindy and I'd say, "Cindy, these are really special relationships. These are leaders who want to foster this relationship with the United States and there's trust building at this moment." And I tell you, I couldn't believe from those early conversations we had in Baku and then in Yerevan in May of 2025. Remarkable. And I'll tell you, President Trump was the key linchpin in that because I know prior leaders had tried to figure out a way to navigate through the complexities and the difficult history with Azerbaijan and Armenia and we as Americans had to be very respectful of difficult decades if not going back further. And what I found is there needed to be somebody that could be trusted to help bring those hands together that Steve Wikcoff talked about and that was President Trump. and to his credit brought the leaders in Armenia and Azerbaijan to come together to come to Washington on August 8th to sign that important memorandum. That was something I'll never ever forget.
Daines Previews Xi Summit on Fox News: “We Want to See Strategic Stability” - Senator Steve Daines
Position: Senator Daines emphasizes the importance of maintaining strategic stability in U.S.-China relations during Xi Jinping's visit to Washington, and expresses concern that the U.S. is falling behind China in AI innovation and adoption, calling for adaptive governance to accelerate American competitiveness.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today joined Harris Faulkner on Fox News to discuss the latest on the race in AI against China and the war in Iran.
Daines on Xi Jinping’s visit to the US:
So let's keep in mind we've got the two largest economies in the world, China, the United States. We've got the two largest militaries in the world and the two leaders in AI in the world. So the stakes could not be higher. The world will be watching every moment, every word coming out of Washington this week. And credit to President Trump, who was just in Beijing in May, engaging with Xi Jinping and now returning that reciprocal visit, returning Xi Jinping now to Washington, D.C. This is unprecedented. Four short months, two heads of states, the two countries in the respective capitals.
…I think the world wants to see this relationship staying on relatively stable terms. I think the key word coming out of our team, the United States, is we want to see strategic stability. You've heard that. That's important because disruptions in this relationship disrupts the global economy. It disrupts what's going on militarily, potentially. So the stakes are very high. And a credit to President Trump for keeping this relationship. The lines of communication open with Xi Jinping. And by the way, we've got a great ambassador over in China, David Perdue. He worked in Asia, worked in China, very close to the President. We couldn't have a better ambassador this moment in Beijing, and he'll be here tonight in Washington.
Daines on AI race against China:
Yeah, it baffles me a bit because what's at stake here is global competition. We have got to go faster than China. This really is all about a race. And if you look at what's happening in terms of public opinion. It shifted and becomes negative sentiments. Now, if I was China looking at wanting to influence public opinion in America, what would I want to see happen? I want to see the public start to move against, from a public opinion point, against AI. And so this concerns me a bit and what's going on right now in shaping public opinion.
…One of the big cities in China is called Hangzhou. It's one of their epicenters of innovation as it relates to AI. That's where DeepSeek is that, of course, made waves here last year in terms of AI frontier models. This is where Xi Jinping was not long ago, talking about one of their AI summits. You realize China's graduating three to five to maybe ten times more engineers every year than we are here in the United States. They're building out a world-class innovation ecosystem, and it continues to grow larger and larger every day. We're falling behind in terms of the innovation ecosystem. We're still ahead in AI. The Chinese do a better job of adopting it, putting it in place. In fact, Stanford ranked China second in the world behind the UAE. It ranked the United States 24th. So we've got our work cut out for us. This is why we need, I would call it adaptive governance, a light, it relates to regulatory regime. We want to be able to move as fast as we can from the innovation viewpoint, but also protect possible downsides of AI. It's going to take thoughtful leadership in Washington. It's going to take strong input from the private sector. That's what, because it's moving so fast, Harris, we can't keep up with it.
…We've never seen a technology move so fast. The recursive nature of AI, what that means is AI is now programming AI. It's becoming less about humans generating the next frontier models as AI generating the next AI models. So it's moving that fast. The question is, how do you put the right kind of guardrails in place that protect the American public, but also do not inhibit innovation.
Daines on the latest Iranian Regime:
It's hard to understand who is in charge and who really speaks for the regime… I think he's one of those voices. I think there's other voices as well. But let's step back and think about what happens with Iran. destabilizing the world. The Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah, these are all proxies of Iran. And imagine for a moment what a world would be like with this regime gone and the people of Iran who generally are pro-America back in charge again. We saw that prior to 1979. I remember those days when Iran was very different. Imagine what our children and grandchildren could have someday if we had an Iran that was back in terms of complying with the world order and working with us instead of trying to destroy us every day.
Daines Urges Colleagues to Support Clean Water Infrastructure in Montana - Senator Steve Daines
Position: Senator Daines advocates for passage of two bills: the Dry Redwater Regional Water Authorization Act to fund clean drinking water infrastructure in eastern Montana and North Dakota, and the Hydropower Licensing and Affordability Act to streamline federal hydropower licensing by limiting mandatory conditioning requirements on dam operators.
“These samples aren’t from third-world countries. They’re coming out of faucets in Montana”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today spoke in a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing where he discussed his bill to bring clean drinking water to eastern Montana and reform the hydropower licensing process.
Daines on the “Dry Redwater Regional Water Authorization Act:”
The “Dry Red Water Regional Water Authorization Act” will authorize the construction of critical water systems in eastern Montana. In fact, back in 2020, Congress passed my bill for the Bureau of Reclamation to complete a feasibility study to bring clean drinking water to Dawson, Garfield, McCone, Prairie, and Richland counties in Montana, as well as McKenzie County in North Dakota. After five years, Reclamation finished their study, and in response, the Montana delegation drafted and introduced Senate Bill 4489, which will federally authorize this water system and add it to the rural water program. I want to show my colleagues why this bill is so important and why I have been working on rural water issues in this committee since day one. I brought some water samples today from Montanans in McCone County. Now, I'm not bringing these samples from a third-world country. This is literally water coming out of some faucets in McCone County in Montana. You can't see this one quite as well. But if you look at it as closely as I can see it, you never want to think about pouring that out of your faucet and taking a sip of water from it. Obviously, this is water that families in Montana should not be drinking. My bill will finally authorize the Dry Red Water Regional Water Authority system and bring clean drinking water to over 30,000 Montanans in towns like Glendive, Circle, Richey, Jordan, and Sidney. I look forward to working with the Bureau of Reclamation and this community to get this bill to the President's desk and be in construction of this important project.
Daines on the “Hydropower Licensing and Affordability Act:”
Senate Bill 5048, the Hydropower Licensing and Affordability Act would make very targeted changes to Sections 4(e) and 18 of the Federal Power Act to ensure that federal agencies focus on the direct effects of a project when they're licensing or relicensing a hydropower dam. Federal agencies have weaponized what's called mandatory conditioning where they can require a hydropower operator to do specific actions before granting a license. We've seen this weaponization repeatedly in Montana and across the West and it has resulted in massive project costs and risk the continuation of solid hydropower projects. For example, in Montana, the Thompson Falls Dam is currently going through relicensing, and we're fighting back against unnecessary and unrelated conditions from agencies. This bill would remove the abuse without weakening environmental or endangered species protections or limiting tribal and state consultation. Senate Bill 5048 simply adds one line to the existing sections of the law, ensuring that mandatory conditions are limited to those that, quote, “reasonably mitigate the direct adverse effect of the applicable project,” end quote. This is straightforward and should not be a controversial proposal. I look forward to working with the Chairman to include this in the permitting package or a future markup.
Daines on Fox Business: “We Cannot Slow Down in the Race Against China” - Senator Steve Daines
Position: Senator Daines argues that the U.S. must maintain its lead in AI innovation over China and opposes regulatory approaches that could slow American AI development. He also criticizes prior administrations' energy policies and supports continued development of North American energy supplies.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today joined Stuart Varney on Fox Business to discuss the latest on diesel prices and race in AI against China.
We are farm and ranch country in Montana. We pride ourselves on that rich heritage. Look, the farmers and ranchers, they feel the pain at the pump. They feel pain right now with low wheat prices, barley prices, corn prices, soybean prices. But I tell you what, the farmers and ranchers, they're not into politics. They're pragmatic patriots. And they look at alternatives in terms of what's on the ballot. They recognize what's going on right now is a temporary disruption in supply and demand. Secretary Wright talked about the hit on that Saudi pipeline. The Russians have stopped any diesel exports at the moment and that creates more pressure, upwards pressure, on diesel prices. But let's not forget the last administration brought into this crazy climate insanity. They wanted to ban combustion engines, they wanted to ban fossil fuels. Our farmers and ranchers know that the alternative to going backwards to the Biden years and that kind of ideology is dangerous for our country. They see that this is a short-term spike in prices, but they know that President Trump and Republicans want to continue to build out North American and American energy supply. That's a sound strategy for the future. This crazy Green New Deal of the Left is something that will set us back a generation. So I’m confident we'll have a good showing here in 2026.
The regime in Iran, they like to see a weak president. They’d love to go back to the days of Obama and Joe Biden, weak presidents that did not have clarity in terms of foreign policy and making America safer. So, of course, they want to undermine President Trump and Republicans who believe in America first and making sure that America is strong. So, it's not surprising. I think the Iranians, the Iranian regime, not the people, but the Iranian regime want to undermine everything President Trump is doing between now and election day in November.
Daines on the AI race against China:
I spent some time in Hangzhou, which is a city that's larger than New York, that many have never heard of, but it's the epicenter of a lot of the tech innovation in China. Very impressive. It's important to understand what the competition is out there. We're ahead as it relates to the frontier models in AI, thankfully, and we'll continue to keep that lead as long as we don't put policies in place that will somehow slow us down. This is a race, Stuart. It's important that America wins that race. We are not as strong in adoption on AI. The Chinese are second in the world. We're ranked 24th by Stanford. But in terms of innovation, we're in the lead today. It's very important to win this. And this is why we've got this big debate in Washington on AI. What is the right plan going forward? I'm just concerned that D.C. is not capable of effectively regulating something it doesn't understand. We need to make sure we have strong input here, certainly from our best and brightest in this space in America.
…Slow down is a mistake. When you're running a race, last time I checked, Stuart, a winning strategy is not to slow down.
Source: GDELT 2.0 GKG, filtered to a curated list of national outlets. Inclusion is not endorsement; opinion pieces and reported news are mixed.
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No disclosed trades on record.
Source: open-data mirrors of the Senate eFD and House Clerk financial-disclosure systems. Disclosure within 30 days of trade is required by law (45 for spouse/dependent trades).
Top PAC donors · 2026 cycle
Political action committees that gave the most to this rep's principal campaign committee this cycle. PAC giving is direct organizational support — industry, ideological, or leadership.
1.THOMPAC1 contribution$10,000
2.THE HAWKEYE PAC1 contribution$10,000
3.ARKANSAS FOR LEADERSHIP PAC1 contribution$10,000
4.LET'S GET TO WORK PAC1 contribution$10,000
5.COMMON SENSE FOR AMERICA PAC1 contribution$10,000
6.PAC FOR AMERICA1 contribution$10,000
7.FREEDOM FUND PAC1 contribution$10,000
8.HEARTLAND VALUES PAC1 contribution$10,000
9.DIRIGO PAC THE LEADERSHIP PAC FOR MAINE1 contribution$10,000
10.COMMON VALUES PAC1 contribution$10,000
Source: OpenFEC (api.open.fec.gov) Schedule A receipts where contributor type is “committee.” Aggregated by contributing committee. Self-transfers from joint-fundraising / victory committees are excluded.
Top individual contributors · 2026 cycle
Itemized individual contributions over $200 to this rep's campaign committee, aggregated by donor employer. PAC giving is shown above; this section is people, not organizations.
1.SELF$105,865
2.INFORMATION REQUESTED PER BEST EFFORTS$74,481
3.BLACKSTONE$57,000
4.YELLOWSTONE BANK$35,000
5.DELTA AIR LINES$26,002
6.REYES HOLDINGS$21,000
7.KKR$18,500
8.TOWN PUMP INC$17,500
9.ADVANTAGE CAPITAL$16,500
10.MOFI$14,000
Source: OpenFEC Schedule A receipts where contributor type is “individual,” aggregated by the donor's self-reported employer. This is a geographic / industry correlation, not a corporate endorsement.
