Sen. Josh Hawley endorsed a temporary pause on data center construction Wednesday, becoming the highest-ranking Republican to back a nationwide moratorium.
The Missouri Republican posted on X on Wednesday listing priorities for Senate Republicans to accomplish in the lame-duck session, including a “MORATORIUM on data centers.”
“Senator Hawley is calling for a federal data center moratorium until Congress passes a bill of rights giving taxpayers guarantees of no rate increases,” a Hawley spokesperson, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told POLITICO.
Hawley is the first Senate Republican to back a national data center moratorium. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in September halted permits for new data centers in his state, and Florida Gov. Don DeSantis (R) imposed stricter regulations on some large-scale AI facilities.
Americans across the country have widely panned the potential energy cost, water and land-use implications of the growing number of data centers being built to power the artificial intelligence boom. A populist, Hawley is often one of the first Republicans to break with his party on contentious issues. The GOP still largely supports data centers as long as residents don’t foot the bill for energy and water costs.
It’s unclear exactly what Hawley’s envisioned “bill of rights” would entail, but he has been at the forefront of Congress’ push to regulate data centers, leading a bill with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) earlier this year to force data centers to find their own power sources.
His moratorium endorsement comes on the heels of bruising midterm election losses for Republicans, where Democrats who ran on anti-data-center platforms fared particularly well.
In the weeks leading up to the election, Republicans had tried to get ahead of the issue by pushing the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill aimed at curbing data center energy costs. The legislation passed the House, but Senate Democrats blocked the bill after saying it did not have enough enforcement power. It is unclear whether there will be an appetite among Senate Republicans to take it up again during the lame-duck session.
In backing a moratorium, Hawley now stands alongside the likes of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who have led legislation to enforce a data center moratorium. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who is in line to chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee next Congress, also endorsed a moratorium earlier this year.
