Sanders Data Center moratorium bill containing 20MW / 20kW per rack standard

Senator Bernie Sanders introduced S.4214 on March 25, a Senate bill imposing a nationwide moratorium on data center construction that covers facilities drawing more than 20MW and meeting specified server-rack power and cooling thresholds, though bitcoin mining sites are not explicitly named in the text. Sanders urged immediate implementation in a post on X on November 5, while House companion legislation was filed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on June 24. Democrats won House and Senate majorities in the November 3 midterms, but the new Congress does not convene until January 3, 2027, so the majority alone does not trigger the pause. The measure matters because a construction freeze would delay power-intensive compute buildout, with bitcoin miners potentially affected indirectly through the 20MW and rack-level criteria rather than by name. What to watch next is whether S.4214 advances through committee and how the 20MW and 20kW-per-rack definitions are finalized.