Sen. Tim Scott, Republican of South Carolina and Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, during their confirmation hearing on Thursday, June 25, 2026 in Washington, DC, USA.
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“The Fed’s dual mandate is very important, and I think we need to dig into the conversation around price stability, jobs, and artificial intelligence in South Carolina as well,” Scott said. “The real question we need to ask is how do we ensure these data centers pay for themselves in relation to electricity and water usage?”
Scott noted that in South Carolina, some political parties are pushing for a ban on data centers promoting AI. Data center moratoriums are becoming more widespread across the U.S. as voters push back against utility rate hikes.
“When you zoom out, the most important question is who will win the future: China or America? Artificial intelligence will decide which thread to thread the needle,” he said. “I want to make sure we’re on the right side of history. Frankly, if we’re going to win this as a country, we have to solve our domestic problems.”
