Establish Federal Deference to State and Local Power

Congress can reject attempts to strip states of their ability to protect constituents from data centers through moratoriums or proposed national legislative frameworks, ensuring that permitting decisions for data centers remain firmly under state and local control. Congress can also make clear that the President cannot use emergency authorities to usurp state, county, or municipal laws and regulations—including zoning and permitting laws—with regard to data centers and associated energy infrastructure.1

  1. Thanks to Public Citizen for this recommendation. See Deanna Noel and Meghan Pazik, “Reining in Big Tech: Policy Solutions to Address the Data Center Buildout,” Public Citizen, December 3, 2025, https://www.citizen.org/article/reining-in-big-tech-policy-solutions-to-address-the-data-center-buildout. ↩︎