First Republican Senator Speaks Out: Josh Hawley Calls for Nationwide Moratorium on Data Center Construction

TechFlow reported that on November 13, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, called for a nationwide moratorium on new data centers (Data Center Moratorium), becoming the first Republican senator to publicly support the proposal.

Hawley had previously listed 5 priorities for Senate Republicans for the next 6 weeks on X, including a 'moratorium on data center construction'; the others were cutting funding for Planned Parenthood, suspending the fuel tax, funding rural hospitals, and passing the SAVE America Act.

According to Politico, a spokesperson for Hawley said the moratorium should continue until Congress passes a 'Bill of Rights' guaranteeing that taxpayers' electricity bills will not rise as a result.

In February this year, Hawley and Democratic Senator Blumenthal jointly introduced the GRID Act, requiring new data centers to use power sources independent of the grid and publicly disclose their electricity usage. Previously, Bernie Sanders and AOC had also pushed for legislation for a nationwide moratorium on building AI data centers.

Source: TechFlow