First Republican senator to speak out: Josh Hawley calls for a nationwide moratorium on data center construction

Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has become the first Republican senator to call for a nationwide moratorium on new data center construction, listing it among Senate Republicans' five priorities for the next six weeks alongside defunding Planned Parenthood, pausing the federal gas tax, funding rural hospitals and passing the SAVE America Act. Hawley's spokesperson told Politico the pause should last until Congress passes a "bill of rights" guaranteeing taxpayers' electricity bills will not rise as a result. The move follows Hawley's February GRID Act with Democratic Senator Blumenthal, which would require new data centers to use power sources independent of the grid and publicly disclose their electricity usage, and earlier national moratorium bills from Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The stance matters because data center power demand is a central constraint on AI buildout and grid costs, and a Republican joining the push signals broadening political risk for hyperscalers and utilities. Watch whether other Senate Republicans endorse the pause and whether the GRID Act's siting and disclosure requirements gain traction.