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Data Center Moratoriums

Who in Washington and on the November ballot has actually gone on record supporting a pause on new data center construction — and who's on record against it. This list is almost certainly incomplete; treat it as a starting point, not a final tally.

Last updated September 29, 2026

This page is being updated regularly as candidates, cosponsors, and their reelection status change. Some names are likely missing — if you know of someone on the record who isn't listed here, let us know.

Terms

Moratorium
A temporary or indefinite halt on approving or building new data centers, usually until specific conditions — environmental review, electricity-rate protections, water rules — are met. Different proposals set very different bars for lifting one.
Federal preemption
A federal law overriding state or local authority on an issue. Most data center siting decisions are currently made locally; a federal moratorium bill would preempt that, while some competing bills instead protect local control from federal or state override.
Guardrails
The term most federal moratorium supporters use for the conditions they want in place before construction resumes — typically covering electricity costs passed to ratepayers, water use, and AI safety regulation generally.

The federal bill

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act (S.4214) on March 25, 2026. It would halt construction or upgrades of AI data centers with a power demand of 20 megawatts or more nationwide, until Congress enacts "strong national safeguards." No Senate cosponsors have signed on as of this writing. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14) introduced the House companion, H.R.9442, on June 24, 2026, with nine original cosponsors:

Rep. André CarsonD-IN-07
Rep. Steve CohenD-TN-09
Rep. Jesús “Chuy” GarcíaD-IL-04
Rep. Dan GoldmanD-NY-10
Rep. Adelita GrijalvaD-AZ-07
Rep. Jim McGovernD-MA-02
Rep. Terri SewellD-AL-07
Rep. Rashida TlaibD-MI-12
Rep. Bonnie Watson ColemanD-NJ-12

Where House Democratic leadership actually stands

Support for a moratorium isn't uniform even within the party whose members sponsor the bill. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) has said he supports a moratorium but hasn't committed to pushing one if he becomes Energy and Commerce Committee chair next year. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), a cosponsor, has said members should get the chance to vote on it. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) opposes a moratorium outright. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has pointedly not endorsed one, telling reporters it's "not a position that I've articulated at this moment" while calling generally for "restraint" on the electricity and water costs data centers pass to ratepayers. Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) says she hasn't taken a position, citing "competing interests" and calling for a "thoughtfully rolled out plan" instead.

On the November ballot: federal races

A Gallup poll found 7 in 10 Americans oppose a new AI data center being built in their own area — which may be why the issue is showing up in campaigns from both parties, not just among Democrats already backing the Sanders/Ocasio-Cortez bill. Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat is the clearest example: both major-party candidates have voiced support for some kind of pause.

Abdul El-SayedD — U.S. Senate, Michigan
Mike RogersR — U.S. Senate, Michigan
William “Will” LawrenceD — U.S. House, MI-07
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezD — U.S. House, NY-14 (incumbent)
Rep. Pramila JayapalD — U.S. House, WA-07 (incumbent)
Rep. André CarsonD — U.S. House, IN-07 (incumbent)
Rep. Adelita GrijalvaD — U.S. House, AZ-07 (incumbent)
Rep. Jim McGovernD — U.S. House, MA-02 (incumbent)
Rep. Terri SewellD — U.S. House, AL-07 (incumbent)
Rep. Rashida TlaibD — U.S. House, MI-12 (incumbent)

Five of the nine original House cosponsors listed above are running for reelection; the other four won't be on the November ballot. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and Jesús "Chuy" García (D-IL) are retiring, Steve Cohen (D-TN) didn't run after Tennessee's Republican-led redistricting redrew his seat, and Dan Goldman (D-NY) lost his primary to Brad Lander.

Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said at a rally outside an OpenAI/Oracle data center site: "I stand with local and state elected officials saying that we cannot approve any more of these until we have federal-level guardrails." Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers said on Aug. 20, 2026: "I think we need to take a pause, probably, and make sure that we're answering all the questions that people have" — a more tentative statement than a firm platform plank, but a real one from a Republican in a competitive statewide race. In Michigan's 7th District, Democratic challenger Will Lawrence built his Sept. 17, 2026 "Stop Tech Overreach Plan" around a nationwide data center and advanced-AI moratorium, aimed directly at incumbent Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI-07).

Not everyone in a competitive 2026 race agrees. Barrett himself opposes a moratorium and has instead introduced legislation barring the federal government from overriding local data center decisions — a different fix aimed at the same underlying complaint. In North Carolina's Senate race, Republican nominee Michael Whatley opposes a moratorium ("We don't want to lose the AI race to China... but you can't have the data centers be a burden to local communities"), while Democratic nominee Roy Cooper's campaign didn't respond to a reporter's question about his position as of July 23, 2026.

On the November ballot: governors

Most data center siting and permitting authority actually sits with states, which is part of why governors' races are as central to this fight as Congress. The candidates below aren't running for federal office, but several have made a moratorium or pause a campaign position:

Support a pause or moratorium

  • Vivek Ramaswamy — R — Governor nominee, Ohio
  • Amy Acton — D — Governor candidate, Ohio
  • Francesca Hong — D — Governor candidate, Wisconsin
  • Gov. Kathy Hochul — D — Governor, New York
  • Cindy Holscher — D — Governor candidate, Kansas
  • Gov. Kelly Ayotte — R — Governor, New Hampshire
  • Stacy Garrity — R — Governor candidate, Pennsylvania
  • Gov. Tina Kotek — D — Governor, Oregon (conditional/local)

Oppose a moratorium

  • Sen. Marsha Blackburn — R — Governor candidate, Tennessee
  • Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders — R — Governor, Arkansas
  • Alan Wilson — R — Governor candidate, South Carolina
  • Sen. Tommy Tuberville — R — Governor candidate, Alabama
  • Rep. Kathy Castor — D-FL-14 (opposes)
  • House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — D-NY-08 (undecided)

Some governors and candidates land in between: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott halted new approvals pending an audit rather than backing a formal moratorium; Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Iowa candidate Rob Sand, and Michigan Gov. Jocelyn Benson all favor continued development paired with new cost or reliability requirements rather than a pause.

Nonpartisan, plainly

This isn't splitting cleanly along party lines, even though it might look that way from the federal bill's sponsor list alone (currently every named sponsor is a Democrat or the independent Sen. Sanders). Once you look at candidates actually on the November 2026 ballot, support and opposition both show up in each party: a Republican Senate candidate in Michigan and a Republican gubernatorial nominee in Ohio have each voiced support for a pause, while a Democratic Senate nominee in North Carolina wouldn't state a position and a sitting Democratic House leader has pointedly avoided endorsing one. We're not taking a position on whether a moratorium is good policy — serious people disagree, including within the same party. This list reflects what's been reported in national and local coverage through late September 2026; with 435 House seats, 33 Senate seats, and 36 governorships on the ballot, it is certainly missing candidates who've taken a position locally that hasn't been reported nationally. Check your own district's candidates directly rather than treating this as exhaustive.

See something wrong at a data center near you?

Noise, unpermitted construction, water or air complaints, or anything else worth documenting — Erin Brockovich's team runs a crowdsourced tracker where residents can report data center issues directly.

Report a data center issue ↗

Talking points

These are the questions we think you should ask those who are running for office and will represent you.

  1. Do you support a moratorium on new data center construction, and if so, what specific conditions would need to be met before you'd lift it?
  2. Should the federal government be able to override a local government's decision to reject or approve a data center, in either direction?
  3. If you oppose a moratorium, what specific protections would you require instead — for ratepayers, water users, or nearby residents?
  4. Who should decide where data centers get built: federal regulators, state governments, or local communities?

Read more

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