Analysis
Rep. Ro Khanna plans to introduce a resolution he's calling a "data center bill of rights," aimed at giving local communities more formal power to reject or restrict AI data center construction, according to CNBC. The proposal would let communities bar data centers within 2,500 feet of homes, schools, childcare facilities, hospitals or nursing homes, guarantee a transparent local approval process communities can use to reject any specific project, and preserve states' ability to impose statewide pauses on new data centers until ratepayer and water-supply protections are in place.
Khanna, who is widely expected to run for president in 2028, said the goal is giving local communities "the right to say no." He pointed to Pennsylvania specifically, where he said opposition to data center construction was the dominant piece of feedback he heard on a recent trip. Data Center Watch, a research firm tracking the issue, counted roughly $130 billion in data center projects blocked or delayed in the first quarter of 2026 alone, and several states, including New York, already have moratoriums in place.
The resolution is unlikely to pass as written in a divided Congress, but it formalizes a fight already happening state by state and county by county -- the real leverage here may be less the federal bill itself than the template it hands to local officials already fielding this exact fight.