Democrats Propose Law Restricting Military Use of AI

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced the Human Authority in Lethal Operations Act (HALO Act) on June 8, 2026, requiring a designated human commander to have final say over any use of force involving autonomous weapon systems, according to The Hill and UPI. Pentagon officials would be required to maintain records of decision-making processes - including target selection - for post-action review, per The Hill.

"The past few months have shown us that there is an urgent need for commonsense guardrails to ensure the Defense Department's use of AI is in line with Americans' national security and privacy priorities," Schiff said, per The Hill. "There are good reasons to use AI technology to advance our national security, however - just as with any tool, we cannot depend on technology alone to guide to us, particularly when the risks of harm can be fatal," he continued. The Gizmodo report on the bill also cites a Schiff press release: "My legislation would protect Americans from unlawful domestic surveillance, ensure that humans in the chain of command exercise responsibility for the use of any lethal technology, and maintain strong ethical protections in the deployment of autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons."

The bill also bars the military from using AI to monitor individuals for constitutionally protected activities and bars purchasing Americans' personal data from third parties in certain cases, per The Hill.

Two other Democratic senators are advancing related bills. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced the Secure and Accountable Military AI Act of 2026 the prior week - barring Pentagon use of AI to launch nuclear weapons, surveil Americans, or deploy autonomous weapons - and plans to offer it as an NDAA amendment, per The Hill. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) also plans her own AI guardrails NDAA amendment, per The Hill.

Statutes that codify human-in-the-loop authority typically drive demand for tamper-evident decision logs, explainability tooling, and operational monitoring capturing model inputs, confidence metrics, and downstream actuator commands. Defense contractors and AI platform vendors should track the bill text for precise definitions of "human authority" and prohibited use cases, as those definitions determine compliance engineering scope.

Track the bills' progress through Senate committees, any DoD rulemaking that follows if enacted, and whether the Gillibrand and Slotkin measures pass as NDAA amendments. Three senators advancing separate bills signals coordinated legislative pressure - watch for industry or DoD formal testimony as the bills advance.