Amid rage brewing on both sides of the political spectrum over testimony by Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh, it would be understandable if you missed some significant artificial intelligence news in Washington D.C. in recent weeks. This week, a group of four senators -- two Democrats, two Republicans -- put forward the AI in Government Act to do things like carry out unique research on federal AI policy, work across agencies, and form an AI advisory board similar to the one created by the European Union earlier this year. The bill has the support of Microsoft, Intel, and the Internet Association, an organization whose members represent some of the biggest tech companies in AI, including Amazon, Facebook, and Google. Last week, Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) and seven of her colleagues in the House and Senate signed and sent letters to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission (EEOC) asking questions about their use of facial recognition software. The FTC and EEOC were asked things like how they address claims of discrimination that may be the result of algorithmic bias and if it has received complaints about facial detection in the workplace or as part of hiring practices.