Sen. Jon Husted, Republican of Ohio, speaks at a roundtable discussion on the Ratepayer Protection Pledge in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House on March 4, 2026 in Washington.
Bonnie Cash | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Senate Democrats on Wednesday defeated two bills aimed at addressing affordability concerns related to data centers and limiting the ability of lawmakers to profit in the stock market while in office, calling both proposals watered down.
The data center bill, known as the Ratepayer Protection Act, failed on a 57-43 vote. The second bill, known as the Stop Insider Trading Act, which also included controversial voter identification provisions, failed on a party-line vote of 53-47. Each bill needed 60 votes to overcome the Senate filibuster.
Republicans are likely to use the vote as leverage for their campaign this fall, as they seek to maintain narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress despite President Donald Trump’s declining approval ratings and persistent concerns about affordability. The Senate is scheduled to adjourn Wednesday as lawmakers seeking re-election return to their home states to campaign for the 2026 midterm elections.
“All Senate Democrats joined 94% of House Democrats in voting against the ban on Congressional stock trading,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) posted on X shortly after the vote. He said the bill “provides for the accountability that the American people demand. But all Democrats blocked its passage.”
The Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed the House of Representatives on a 417-3 vote earlier this month, establishes a regulatory framework that states can consider to require large artificial intelligence data centers to pay their own energy costs rather than pass them on to customers.
But Democrats are fiercely opposed to the bill. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York called the proposal a “teethless messaging bill” in a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday.
“This bill is a fraud. The shortcomings of the Republican data center bill can be summed up in one word: options,” Schumer said.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has called for a national moratorium on data centers until developers can prove they can cover the full cost of construction and operation, calling the bill “ridiculous nonsense.”
“If you give me something substantive, I’ll vote for it,” Warren said ahead of the vote.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (New Mexico), the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, raised similar concerns when he blocked the bill earlier this month after Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) sought unanimous consent for early passage.
According to Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Husted is in a “competitive” race for re-election against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Brown has accused opponents of helping bring data centers to the state during his time as lieutenant governor.
Husted and other Republicans could capitalize on a messaging victory on the data center front, an issue that has become a hot campaign issue in recent months as opponents push for stricter guardrails for developers.
Meanwhile, the Congressional Stock Trading Act, which passed the House of Representatives in July by a vote of 232-198, would prohibit sitting members of Congress from buying individual stocks. But it would not force members to sell their existing portfolios, a sticking point for some Democrats who advocate stricter trade bans.
Republicans added a controversial voter identification provision to the bill, which Democrats largely oppose.
Schumer similarly criticized the stock deal Tuesday, calling it a “farce” and the voter ID provision a “poison pill.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, also called the Republican proposal a half-measure.
“This clearly shows that they are not taking the issue of insider trading seriously. If they want a stock ban to happen, they will put a stock ban on the table,” Cain said Wednesday.
Husted called both proposals “common sense bipartisan bills” in a post to Mr. X on Tuesday.
“Reducing energy costs, requiring photo ID to vote, and banning members of Congress from trading stocks could be bipartisan wins,” Husted wrote. “The only thing standing in the way of us achieving what the American people want us to do is Senate Democrats.”
— Irit Skulnik contributed to this article.
