On November 11, Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley listed a legislative priority for the Senate Republicans over the next six weeks on social media, including a "pause on data center construction," becoming the first Republican senator to publicly support a nationwide data center construction moratorium. According to POLITICO, Hawley's spokesperson later stated that the moratorium should continue until Congress passes a bill guaranteeing taxpayers' electricity bills won't rise due to data center construction. Previously, Texas Governor Abbott had suspended new data center permits in the state in September. This shift in stance reflects the partisan divide surrounding electricity bills related to data centers. While progressive Democrats had previously pushed for a nationwide construction moratorium, Hawley joined the issue from the perspective of protecting residential electricity bills. The two parties have reached a consensus on limiting the passing of data center costs onto residents, but disagreements remain on specific regulatory measures. Previously, the House-passed "Electricity Bill Protection Act" was blocked by Senate Democrats, who argued that the bill lacked sufficient enforcement constraints.
