President Donald Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) often offer competing visions for America.
Whether it’s taxes, healthcare, or energy policy, the two men cannot be more different.
There is a new inflection point: Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The president has embraced America’s leadership in the AI industry. He has rolled out policies to encourage economic growth while protecting Americans. For example, the White House’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge calls for the nation’s largest AI companies to pay their share of energy costs – not our working families.
Sen. Sanders, on the other hand, is holding back American innovation – whether he admits it or not. Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and Sanders are not acting on sound policy — they are playing politics with America's economic future, claiming to stand with working families while pushing legislation that would eliminate the very jobs and economic security these investments deliver.
The Vermont senator recently introduced legislation to halt data center construction, claiming, “The time for action is now.”
What action is Sen. Sanders so passionate about?
A moratorium would devastate the very workers Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez claim to champion. Hundreds of thousands of American families get their economic security from data centers — nearly 1.5 times more than all 16 U.S. automakers combined.
They’ve also provided a massive revenue increase to state and local governments — to rural counties that have been hurting for decades. NPR recently highlighted the boom town of Quincy in Washington State, where property taxes have allowed the town to afford a new library and new fire station – without the need for tax increases on their residents.
Sanders claims that Congress is “behind” and innovation needs to stop until that Congress is ahead of technological progress. When is Congress ever ahead of anything?
Sanders isn’t just taking aim at data centers; he is dragging down all of the innovation, the life-saving cures, the government efficiency, and education improvements that come along with American AI. The legislation that he and Ocasio-Cortez introduced would impose a moratorium until Congress passes “comprehensive legislation” that would, in part, mandate that the federal government review and approve every AI product before it is released. Bernie Sanders has been trying to get the government to “fix” healthcare for all his 35 years in Congress, and where are we?
Do you want to live in a nation where bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., must review each new technological product before it’s released? Do you really think China will wait on the U.S. government?
Technological progress at the speed of government is a recipe for Americans to slowly develop a similar quality of life to Havana.
Halting progress isn’t a solution to Americans’ legitimate concerns about AI. The White House’s AI policy framework is one.
Polling consistently shows that Americans worry about AI’s impact on energy costs. The president’s framework hits this concern head-on — and calls on Congress to enact legislation ensuring residential ratepayers do not face higher electricity bills because of AI data centers.
The existing framework also urges Congress to pass a law that protects minors on AI platforms and calls on states to consider their own laws protecting children.
The consequences of getting this wrong extend far beyond our borders. China will invest $70 billion in new data centers this year alone. A moratorium does not pause global AI development — it simply slows down America’s lead while handing over the reins to Beijing at the worst possible moment.
Make no mistake: this legislation will harm American families — delaying life-saving cures, eliminating good-paying jobs, and redirecting investment to China.
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez dress their agenda in the language of worker protection. But there is nothing pro-worker about surrendering America’s economic and national security future to Beijing. Congress must reject this moratorium and embrace President Trump’s vision for American AI dominance.
Former Congressman Garret Graves is the Co-Chair of the AI Infrastructure Coalition. Graves represented Louisiana's 6th Congressional District from 2015 to 2025.