Live updates: House panel grills FEMA leader on Texas response; Trump turns attention to AI

LIVE Video: Acting FEMA director testifies before House on improving disaster response

President Trump on Wednesday will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) in a keynote address at an AI summit.

It comes as the administration is expected to release its "AI Action Plan," which will be structured around three core pillars, according to a preview obtained by The Hill. The key pillar involves removing regulatory barriers to the technology’s development.

The tech focus will offer a distraction to the unrelenting Jeffrey Epstein tumult, though questions on it are certain to arise when White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefs reporters at 1 p.m. EDT.

The Epstein controversy has halted votes in the House, which works its last day before a five-week break on Wednesday. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) faces one of the toughest moments in his tenure, as his allies stopped action in the chamber to prevent Democrats from forcing a vote on the release of Epstein records.

In the House on Wednesday morning, members from both parties on a Transportation panel subcommittee grilled FEMA's acting administrator, David Richardson, on the agency's response to the Texas flooding. Richardson was asked about FEMA's future, it's reaction time and his personal whereabouts when the July 4 disaster hit.

Read more:

• House stymied as Speaker Johnson’s hand-picked committee rebels over Epstein
• Virginia Republicans sound alarm over governor's race: 'It's a disaster'
• Todd Blanche takes the helm of Ghislane Maxwell talks

Follow along for updates today.