US Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., US, September 30, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
On Wednesday, Senate Republicans’ “last-ditch” attempt at showing voters the party is trying to address the affordability crisis failed when a bill relating to AI data centers was voted down. According to the Wall Street Journal, critics of the effort “dismissed it as the product of a desperate political exercise,” and its failure deprives the GOP of a legislative win it desperately needs as the midterms loom.
“With just over a month to go before the midterms, Democrats are giving Republicans a run for their money in states President Trump won by double digits in 2024, including Ohio, Iowa, Alaska, Texas and Kansas,” writes the Journal. “The latest Wall Street Journal poll showed Americans in both parties backing ideas such as government-imposed price caps and other market interventions to make life more affordable.” Republicans face historically bad midterm polling in large part due to their inability to address the cost-of-living crisis, and they have no further plans to take action before the November elections.
The GOP’s latest failed measure was sponsored by Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), who is in a narrow re-election battle with former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. According to the Journal, “Brown has been hammering Husted as an ally of the tech industry who helped fuel Ohio’s data-center boom when he was a top state official. Ohio has become increasingly competitive as voters sour on high prices and the Iran War, and Democrats see it as one of their top targets as they try to flip four seats to win control of the Senate. Democrats in other key states including Texas and Michigan have also used data centers to target Republicans.”
“All Republicans offer is a toothless messaging bill. This bill is a fraud,” asserted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), pointing out that the guardrails proposed in Husted’s legislation aren’t mandatory.
“Some Republican senators said they regretted not spending more time on pocketbook issues in the run-up to the election. Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) listed bills he said he wished the GOP-led Senate had put more effort behind, including measures to suspend the gas tax, allow taxpayers to deduct out-of-pocket medical expenses, and to cap insulin prices,” writes the Journal. “Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) said Republicans should have done more months ago to sympathize with voters and confront their affordability concerns head on — and now they could pay the price at the ballot box.” As Justice told the Journal, “No matter how much you love us as Republicans, we’re in control. And if you can’t pay the bills, you’ve got a real problem with us.”
And as the Journal reports, the GOP is all out of opportunities to take action before the midterms. “It is the only game in town,” Husted said, referring to the failed legislation. “It is the only bill that has a chance to get to the president’s desk before we get to the election.”
