Senate Democrats defeat data center affordability and congressional stock trading bills

Senate Democrats on Wednesday defeated a pair of bills that aimed to address data center-related affordability concerns and limit Congress members' ability to profit on the stock market while in office, arguing both were watered-down proposals.

The data center bill, dubbed the Ratepayer Protection Act failed on a vote of 57-43. A second bill, known as the Stop Insider Trading Act, which also includes a controversial voter-identification provision, was defeated on a party-line, 53-47 vote. Both bills needed 60 votes to overcome the Senate filibuster.

Republicans will likely use the votes as fodder on the campaign trail this fall, as the GOP seeks to hold narrow majorities in both chambers despite President Donald Trump's falling approval ratings and persistent concerns about affordability. The Senate is due to recess as soon as Wednesday, as lawmakers seeking reelection will return to their home states to campaign ahead of the 2026 midterm election.

"EVERY Senate Democrat just joined 94% of House Democrats in voting AGAINST banning congressional stock trading.," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., posted to X immediately following the vote. The bill, he said, provides "the accountability the American people demand. But every Democrat blocked it from becoming law."

The Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed the House on a 417-3 vote earlier this month, would establish a regulatory framework that states could consider adopting to require large artificial intelligence data centers to cover their own energy costs, rather than passing them down to customers.

But Democrats have railed against the measure. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the proposal a "toothless messaging bill" in a speech in the Senate on Tuesday.

"The bill is a fraud. I can sum up the shortcomings of Republicans' data center bill with one word: optional," Schumer said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who has called for a national moratorium on data centers until developers can demonstrate they will cover the full cost of their construction and operation, called the legislation a "silly piece of nonsense."

"Give us something of substance and we'll vote on it," Warren said ahead of the vote.

Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, cited similar concerns when he blocked the bill earlier this month after Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, requested unanimous consent for quick passage.

Husted is in a "toss up" race for re-election against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Brown has accused his opponent of helping to bring data centers to the state when he was lieutenant governor.

Husted and other Republicans could use a messaging win on the data center front, which has evolved in recent months into a potent campaign issue as opponents seek stricter guardrails for developers.

Meanwhile, the congressional stock trading bill, passed the House in July on a 232-198 vote, and would prohibit sitting members of Congress from buying individual stocks. But it would not force members to divest their existing portfolios, a sticking point for some Democrats who have advocated a more stringent trading ban.

Republicans also tacked on a controversial voter identification provision to the measure, which Democrats largely oppose.

Schumer similarly criticized the stock trading proposal on Tuesday, calling it a "theatrical farce" and the voter ID provision a "poison pill."

And Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said the Republican proposal was a half measure.

"It's obviously a sign that they don't take seriously the issue of insider trading. If you wanted to get a stock ban done, you would put a stock ban on the floor," Kaine said on Wednesday.

Husted, in a post to X on Tuesday, called both proposals "commonsense, bipartisan bills."

"Lowering energy costs, requiring photo ID to vote, and banning stock trading for members of Congress could be bipartisan wins," Husted wrote. "Senate Democrats are the only ones standing in the way of delivering what the American people have asked us to do."

— Irit Skulnik contributed to this story.