House Republicans are quietly blocking legislation they actually support — because they don’t want to hand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a political victory ahead of her 2028 presidential run.
The DEFIANCE Act passed the Senate unanimously in January. It has Republican co-sponsors. Speaker Mike Johnson says he supports it. But the bill sits stalled in the House Judiciary Committee — and staffers working on the legislation say the holdup is purely political.
“It’s a shame that this bill isn’t law because they are unwilling to give AOC a win,” one person working on the bill told Politico. “When you look at it, everything is aligned for it to pass, except that they don’t want her to have this.”
The legislation creates a federal civil cause of action allowing victims of non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes to sue those who create or distribute fake nude or sexual images without their consent. Victims could recover up to $250,000 in damages in cases involving sexual assault, stalking, or harassment.
“We’re depriving many, many people of the ability to set their lives right just to prevent one member of Congress from being able to pass a bill.”
The bill earned support from conservative Republicans, leftist Democrats, and Hollywood figures like Paris Hilton. Senator Lindsey Graham co-led the Senate version. Senator Dick Durbin praised Ocasio-Cortez — herself a victim of explicit deepfakes — for creating tools to fight what he called a “despicable crime.”
But the New York congresswoman is now leading early 2028 Democratic primary polling in New Hampshire, according to a University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll released this week. She sits at 22% support, narrowly ahead of former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 21%.
That timing appears to have triggered the freeze. Ocasio-Cortez blamed House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan for the delay, telling The Independent earlier this month that people should “ask Jim Jordan” why the bill hasn’t advanced despite unanimous Senate passage.
Speaker Johnson told reporters Tuesday he supports the legislation but was unsure of its status in committee.
The DEFIANCE Act stall comes after President Trump signed the bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act into law earlier this year. That measure, championed by First Lady Melania Trump, criminalizes the non-consensual online distribution of intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes.
👀👀👀 AOC on a poll showing her leading in a 2028 primary in New Hampshire:
“One is that you know polls are polls, and a horse race is a horse race. I am, of course, I think very deeply humbled and grateful to you know folks who participate and convey that confidence.”
“I… pic.twitter.com/fSXAOC0AGO
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) July 22, 2026
Ocasio-Cortez responded to the New Hampshire poll with measured humility, calling herself “very deeply humbled and grateful” to voters who expressed confidence in her.
The Senate passed the DEFIANCE Act unanimously. The House still hasn’t held a vote.
AOC collaborated with Lindsey Graham on the DEFIANCE Act, which would allow victims of nonconsensual deepfake AI porn to file civil suits. @parishilton endorsed it. It passed through unanimous consent in the Senate, but it has stalled in the House.
“Senator Graham, Senator… pic.twitter.com/MuziBUHIlJ
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) July 15, 2026
