CONGRESS FINALLY WRITES A FEDERAL AI RULEBOOK. ALL 269 PAGES OF IT. HERE IS WHAT IS ACTUALLY IN THERE. On June 4, 2026, Representatives Jay Obernolte and Lori Trahan released a 269-page bipartisan discussion draft called the Great American Artificial Intelligence Act. It is the first serious attempt by Congress to write a comprehensive federal framework governing how AI is built, deployed, and held accountable in the United States. The bill has been largely buried under the daily volume of model releases and funding announcements. It should not be. The GAAIA proposes a voluntary federal review process for the most powerful AI models before wide public release, with the NSA and Treasury Department elevated into oversight roles for cybersecurity and economic stability risks respectively. It establishes disclosure requirements, accountability standards for AI developers, and a framework for evaluating whether frontier models pose national security risks. What makes the bill significant is its bipartisan origin. Obernolte is a Republican. Trahan is a Democrat. They drafted 269 pages together at a moment when federal consensus on anything involving technology is genuinely difficult to achieve. The document is a discussion draft, meaning it is not yet legislation, but it sets the terms of the debate that will produce legislation. The bill would also preempt state AI laws for three years, a provision that has drawn both support and criticism. Several states including Illinois, Colorado, and California have already enacted AI-specific legislation. The federal preemption clause would freeze that patchwork in place while Congress attempts to craft a national standard. The EU’s AI Act went from draft to law in roughly four years. The United States has no comparable timeline. But the GAAIA is the clearest signal yet that Congress understands a federal standard is coming and has decided to be involved in writing it before the market writes it for them. Keywords: Great American AI Act, federal AI regulation, Congress AI law, bipartisan AI bill, AI governance framework