Republican Senator Josh Hawley wants Congress to hit the brakes on new data centers, just as lawmakers are moving forward with legislation intended to make building the infrastructure behind America's AI boom easier.
The Missouri senator called for a nationwide moratorium Wednesday, listing it among five priorities for Senate Republicans during the six weeks before Democrats take control of the chamber.
"Senate Republicans trying to figure out what to do in the next 6 weeks?" Hawley wrote on X. His answer included a moratorium on data centers, alongside defunding Planned Parenthood, suspending the gas tax and other Republican priorities.
A spokesperson told Politico that Hawley wants a federal pause until Congress passes a "bill of rights giving taxpayers guarantees of no rate increases." Hawley has not presented detailed legislation specifying which projects would stop or how long the freeze would last.
Data centers are the warehouses packed with powerful computers that train and operate services such as ChatGPT. Building more AI systems means installing more servers, which requires additional electricity, cooling equipment and often upgrades to local power grids.
The scale helps explain the concern. U.S. data centers consumed an estimated 183 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, according to figures cited by Pew, and that could climb to 426 by 2030. In other words, their annual electricity demand could more than double in six years.
Congress has a different plan
On Monday, the Senate voted 73-25 to advance debate on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, a proposal backed by lawmakers from both parties and President Donald Trump's administration.
The bill would speed federal reviews for energy projects and transmission lines, helping bring new power supplies online. It would also require data center operators to pay the additional grid costs their projects create, rather than shifting those expenses onto ordinary electricity customers.
In practical terms, Congress is considering how to keep construction moving without making households subsidize it. Hawley is asking lawmakers to stop new construction until consumer protections are in place.
His position is not entirely new. In February, Hawley introduced the GRID Act with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, seeking to make new data centers obtain electricity from their own sources rather than relying on existing grid supplies.
He now joins independent Senator Bernie Sanders and Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in publicly supporting a national pause. Their moratorium proposal goes further, calling for rules addressing AI's effects on workers and public safety as well as the environment.
A backlash that crosses party lines
The politics have shifted quickly. In the November 3 elections, voters backed restrictions on data center development across the country, including local bans and measures requiring public approval before construction.
A Pew Research Center analysis published Wednesday found 60% of Americans uncomfortable with a new data center in their area, including 54% of Republicans and 68% of Democrats. Another survey found 58% disliked political leaders who support building data centers near them.
Opponents worry about rising bills, water consumption and noise. Cities have already imposed restrictions, while OpenAI recently promised to cover electricity and grid costs at future campuses it owns and operates.
Industry supporters see a bigger economic risk. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink warned last month that a construction moratorium could trigger a recession because so much investment now depends on AI infrastructure.
A federal construction freeze could delay the additional computing capacity that AI companies expect to bring online, along with the power infrastructure built to support it. Existing data centers would not necessarily shut down, but the scope of Hawley's proposed moratorium remains undefined.
Hawley's call does not freeze a single project, and he has not said whether he would support the Sanders bill. For now, the Senate is debating legislation to speed infrastructure approvals, not legislation to ban new data centers.
