Replacing H-1B visas with a merit-based immigration system and avoiding overregulation of artificial intelligence are among the policy recommendations congressional Republicans proposed to boost labor force productivity and solidify the country’s economic trajectory.
Joint Economic Committee Chairman
The report paints the economy as drowning in debt and vulnerable from an aging workforce, with baby boomers retiring and the birth rate sinking. It argues the US faces a “core problem” of an aging population, federal programs vulnerable to that demographic shift, and a Congress that has “shirked and continues to shirk its responsibility” to address the issue.
Congress can make “meaningful changes” to the trajectory of the US economy by tackling “the core problem, not just how to finance it” and “legalizing innovation and fostering generational gains in productivity,” Schweikert wrote.
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The committee’s report calls for the US to attract more high-earning workers into the tax base by replacing the H-1B program’s lottery structure with a merit-based system. Immigrants’ access should be limited to “applicants expected to provide the greatest economic value,” the report says.
“We looked at the rest of the world” in supporting a points-based immigration system, Schweikert told Bloomberg Government in an interview.
The H-1B visa program, which allows US companies to employ nonimmigrant workers with specialized knowledge, has been the source of many political disagreements. The Trump administration last year imposed a $100,000 fee per worker on H-1B visas, which some Democrats said was illegal and would harm the economy.
The administration has also adjusted the visa program to prioritize higher wages, shifting away from a model that lawmakers have said undermines American workers.
‘Burdensome Regulation’
The GOP report also calls for caution as lawmakers approach regulating new technologies like artificial intelligence. The report is light on policy prescriptions for AI but warns against “burdensome regulation” of technology, which Republicans argue can make workers more productive in some fields. It called for any policies enacted by Congress to be “flexible” to encourage tech innovation.
Policymakers should “scrutinize efforts by organized labor and incumbent businesses to preserve their business models through demands for innovation-stifling, unnecessary regulatory barriers,” it says.
Congress has largely remained on the sidelines of AI regulation, but some states—including California, a perennial target for Republicans—have written their own laws aimed at providing AI guardrails. The Trump administration earlier this year proposed an AI framework that would preempt those efforts, enraging officials in those states.
While “artificial intelligence and other technologies present tremendous potential for the future economy,” the report says, “burdensome regulation continues to suppress the fruits of American innovation.”
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Schweikert said he aimed to craft a fact-based report, rather than a partisan one. But many of the prescriptions would run into resistance from Democrats, many of whom support more familial immigration pathways and have also supported tougher regulations on technologies like AI. The Joint Economic Committee’s ranking member, Sen.