House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries could be on a collision course with progressives and grassroots activists who are demanding Congress pass legislation to pause the construction of new data centers. Jeffries, who is set to become speaker if his party wins the House majority in November, hasn’t weighed in on whether he will push a moratorium.
Polls show Americans have recoiled from President Donald Trump’s directive to become the “world’s No. 1 superpower in artificial intelligence” and the recent blitz of data centers. Democratic candidates across the country are campaigning on a pledge to pause or ban the construction of new data center projects.
Trump’s call this week to “let Data Reign” and his description of communities that oppose these facilities as “backwards and poor” gives Democrats an opening to contrast with Republicans on the ballot in November. Some Republicans have worked to distance themselves from the president on the issue, which is bubbling up in areas where new development is exploding.
Jeffries criticized a pair of House Republicans in purple districts over their votes to “unleash data centers on the American people in an unfettered fashionn— Reps. David Valadao of California and Mike Lawler of New York.
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But while Valadao’s Democratic challenger has endorsed a one-year pause on data centers in his district, Jeffries and other House Democratic leaders remain skeptical of a ban.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), who has introduced a bill that would place an indefinite moratorium on data centers until Congress enacts safeguards, told NOTUS that voters are looking to lawmakers to address “the effects that AI and data centers are having in their lives.”
“Whether that is a moratorium, whether it is a pause, so that there’s actual consent in these communities on what is built, that’s what I think people want the most,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Jeffries said this week that Americans “want some restraint so that they’re not overrun by the possibility of their electricity bills continuing to skyrocket and their water bills continuing to skyrocket.”
But the Democratic leader has pumped the brakes on a calling for a strict ban. He told Politico this summer that a moratorium is “not a position that I’ve articulated at this moment.” Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, supports a moratorium but has not committed to pushing one if he chairs the committee next year. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Florida), the top Democrat on the panel’s energy subcommittee, opposes a moratorium.
Jeffries’ office declined a request from NOTUS to comment on his policy position.
Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vermont), a progressive who hasn’t taken a stance, told NOTUS that there are “competing interests” for the Democratic policy prescription on data centers.
“What (voters) are telling us is, we need to take a beat,” Balint said. “This needs to be a really thoughtfully rolled out plan.”
Mitch Jones, managing director of policy and litigation at Food and Water Watch, an environmental advocacy group that has pushed for a moratorium on new data centers, told NOTUS that Democratic leadership “hasn’t really come to terms” with the grassroots energy behind the anti-data-center movement and what it means for AI policy in Washington.
“They’re going to be caught off guard if they don’t start paying attention to what’s happening on the ground,” Jones said. “If they try to do some sort of squishy or milquetoast policy on AI or data centers, there will be an immediate backlash from their base.”
Jones said that embracing strict regulations is important for Democrats because it “sends a message to voters across the country that they’re actually listening to them, not the Silicon Valley executives whose private jets” lawmakers fly on.
The push to rein in data centers isn’t just gaining traction on the campaign trail. More Democrats on the Hill are embracing the policy, and urging leadership for a vote on the issue in the future.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts) told NOTUS that he thinks it’s important to go on the record to send a message.
“We ought to at least give members the opportunity to vote on the national moratorium,” McGovern said.
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