Hawley calls for Senate to pass data center moratorium

This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is calling on the Senate to pass a moratorium on data center construction in the period before Republicans lose the majority, the first GOP senator to call for the move nationwide. The Missouri senator listed his five priorities for his party in a post to the social platform X, including passing a major voting bill that President Trump urged Republicans to pass for much of this year. “Senate Republicans trying to figure out what to do in the next 6 weeks? Here you go: DEFUND Planned Parenthood, MORATORIUM on data centers, SUSPEND the gas tax, FUND rural hospitals, SAVE AMERICA ACT,” Hawley wrote. Hawley, known for his more populist brand, may find more support from Democrats on some of those issues, like a data center moratorium or funding rural hospitals — something Democrats have slammed Republicans for due to the impact of Trump’s signature tax bill. He may not find much assistance from Democrats on other issues, but data centers became a flashpoint in the midterms, and a campaign issue that seemed not to fall cleanly along party lines. In Texas, GOP Gov. Greg Abbott broke with some in his party — including the president — and halted new data center construction pending a statewide audit after his Democratic opponent, now-Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa, campaigned against him on the issue. Democratic candidates in South Carolina and Ohio also hit their GOP opponents hard on data centers. Sen.-elect Annie Andrews (D-S. C.) nicknamed Sen. Darline Graham (R-S. C.) “data center Darline” in a debate, and also called for a two-year moratorium. And as Sen.-elect Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) attacked Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) for his past support for data centers, Husted pushed the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill aimed at mitigating data center electricity costs. But Democrats ultimately blocked its passage in the Senate, denying Husted a political win before an election. Data centers steadily became more unpopular with voters throughout this year. A Pew Research poll from the summer found a majority of voters believe data centers are bad for the environment, and half said they were bad for home energy costs — both shares were significant increases from Pew’s January survey. And the poll did not find significant differences of opinion across party lines. Sixty-eight percent of Democrats and 54 percent of Republicans said they were not comfortable with a new local data center. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.