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{"id":27152,"date":"2026-09-16T09:04:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T09:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/why-the-senate-might-not-solve-jon-husteds-data-center-problem\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T09:04:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T09:04:40","slug":"why-the-senate-might-not-solve-jon-husteds-data-center-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/why-the-senate-might-not-solve-jon-husteds-data-center-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Senate might not solve Jon Husted&#8217;s data center problem"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Ohio Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/307927\" data-person-id=\"307927\">Jon Husted<\/a> is drowning in political attacks centered on his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/power-switch\/2026\/07\/14\/data-center-wars-buckeye-edition-00997097\" target=\"_blank\"><u>past support for data centers<\/u><\/a>. A potential life preserver could end up just out of reach.<\/p>\n<p>The House is expected to vote Wednesday on legislation that aims to compel technology companies to <a href=\"https:\/\/legislation.politicopro.com\/bill\/US_119_HR_9340\" target=\"_blank\">cover utility costs<\/a> associated with data center buildouts. And Husted, who is seeking election in November to complete the final two years of the term he was appointed to, is trying to get his fellow senators to quickly follow suit.<\/p>\n<p>But getting the Senate to leap into action this month is far from straightforward. Assuming the House acts on the measure Wednesday as planned, putting it on President Donald Trump\u2019s desk before senators leave town for a final campaign sprint would require Husted to convince all 99 of his colleagues to agree to a quick vote \u2014 or even to let it pass without one.<\/p>\n<p>There are already signs it could be a big ask, especially from Democrats who are already skeptical of the House bill and aren\u2019t eager to give Husted a leg up in his race against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, either.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/66869\" data-person-id=\"66869\">Martin Heinrich<\/a> (D-N.M.), who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eenews.net\/articles\/heinrich-releases-data-center-energy-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\"><u>has offered his own bill<\/u><\/a> aimed at preventing data centers from shifting energy costs to consumers, called the bill Husted is backing a \u201cfig leaf\u201d in a Tuesday interview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s a very symbolic piece of legislation,\u201d said Heinrich, the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. \u201cI would like to see something done that actually has some teeth to protect consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Senate Minority Leader <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/51231\" data-person-id=\"51231\">Chuck Schumer<\/a> was noncommittal Tuesday when asked at a news conference about artificial intelligence legislation and if Democrats could support an idea like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.husted.senate.gov\/media\/press-releases\/husted-leads-bill-to-protect-americans-from-footing-the-bill-for-new-data-centers\/\" target=\"_blank\"><u>Husted\u2019s bill<\/u><\/a>, known as the Ratepayer Protection Act. The New York Democrat said that there were \u201cmany different ways to approach AI\u201d but they wouldn\u2019t get done unless it was on a bipartisan basis.<\/p>\n<p>While Husted\u2019s bill <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/senate-bill\/5028\/cosponsors\" target=\"_blank\"><u>has one cosponsor<\/u><\/a> \u2014 a fellow Republican, Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/374701\" data-person-id=\"374701\">Tommy Tuberville<\/a> of Alabama \u2014 the House bill has multiple Democratic cosponsors and passed unanimously out of the Energy and Commerce Committee in July. House Republican leaders are so confident of bipartisan approval that they\u2019re bringing the bill to the floor under a fast-track process requiring a two-thirds-majority vote.<\/p>\n<p>Husted insisted to reporters Tuesday that he was not connecting his push for data center legislation with the political headwinds he\u2019s facing back in Ohio.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t look at it in those terms,\u201d Husted said. \u201cI just think that it\u2019s something that is just the right thing to do. \u2026 They need to pay their own way, and not pass their cost on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But with Brown hammering him on the Ohio airwaves as the \u201cface of data centers,\u201d Husted is facing an acute need to reassure voters on the issue. The Senate GOP campaign arm warned in a memo last month that data centers are \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/2026\/08\/19\/document\/nrsc-data-center-memo\" target=\"_blank\"><u>the anchor hanging around Husted\u2019s neck<\/u><\/a>\u201d and that if Husted loses it could have negative consequences for the industry.<\/p>\n<p>Getting the Ratepayer Protection Act to Trump\u2019s desk would give Husted and other Republicans a key talking point to raise in TV ads and debate appearances as many acknowledge that the growing backlash from voters over data centers is becoming a grave political liability.<\/p>\n<p>If Husted can\u2019t get an across-the-board agreement to hold a vote, he could go to the floor and try to pass his bill by unanimous consent, but any one senator would be able to block his attempt.<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether he would object to such an effort, Heinrich said he hadn\u2019t considered it yet, but added that \u201cgiven the pressures consumers are under right now, they deserve something more real.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Schumer helped recruit Brown into the race against Husted, and the former senator has been running ads against Husted for months over his support for data centers as lieutenant governor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe led the path to bring data centers to Ohio and gave billions of tax dollars to make it happen,\u201d the narrator says in one Brown campaign ad from earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for Husted\u2019s Senate office said in a statement that Husted has \u201calways believed that it should be up to the local communities whether or not they want new data centers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Husted joined Trump in March for the signing of a \u201cratepayer protection pledge\u201d aimed at defusing the issue for Republicans. The Husted spokesperson said his bill \u201csimply codifies this pledge, and what he has always firmly believed: tech companies should be held accountable, and local ratepayers should not have to pay for new data centers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democrats view Ohio as one of their best pickup opportunities on the Senate map, with political prognosticators viewing the contest as a tossup. If Husted is able to keep his seat in a state Trump won by more than 11 points in 2024, it would be a boon for Republicans\u2019 fight to hold onto the majority.<\/p>\n<p>The data center bill is not the only way Republicans could use the Senate floor to boost Husted, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/01\/17\/ohio-senate-seat-dewine-husted-ramaswamy-00198974\" target=\"_blank\"><u>appointed last year<\/u><\/a> by Gov. Mike DeWine to fill the seat vacated by JD Vance when he became vice president.<\/p>\n<p>Two GOP senators granted anonymity to speak candidly said they believed a Tuesday vote on cryptocurrency regulation, for instance, was designed to help Husted. Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/09\/15\/crypto-bill-collapses-on-senate-floor-01077617\" target=\"_blank\"><u>blocked the bill from advancing<\/u><\/a>, and Republicans are hoping the crypto industry spends heavily in Ohio to defeat Brown, a former Senate Banking chair \u2014 as they did in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans are also discussing if they can bring up a House-passed bill cracking down on lawmaker stock trading that also has voter ID language attached to it. Husted has pushed voter ID legislation in the Senate.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about the data center bill Tuesday, Senate Majority Whip <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/51863\" data-person-id=\"51863\">John Barrasso<\/a> said in an interview that \u201cwe\u2019ll see how it goes there and get it over here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Unprompted, he added, \u201cSince you mentioned Senator Husted, I would also like to do the stock trading ban, which also requires a mandatory showing of voter ID.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Husted said that he believed his data center bill is \u201cbroadly supported\u201d and that he\u2019s hoping a strong House vote will \u201cgive us some good momentum to get it done in the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Senate Majority Leader <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/51242\" data-person-id=\"51242\">John Thune<\/a> cautioned that it would take buy-in from all 100 senators to move it quickly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll see what the options are over here,\u201d Thune said in an interview. \u201cHe obviously has the option to try and ask [for unanimous consent] to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>Anthony Cruz contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ohio Sen. Jon Husted is drowning in political attacks centered on his past support for data centers. A potential life preserver could end up just out of reach. The House is expected to vote Wednesday on legislation that aims to compel technology companies to cover utility costs associated with data center buildouts. And Husted, who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27152\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}