# Josh Hawley Backs Nationwide Pause on New Data Center Construction By Riza Dagoc Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/55148 Published: 2026-11-12T08:55:55.000Z Updated: 2026-11-12T08:55:55.000Z Section: Regulation > The proposal would keep construction on hold until Congress adopts protections against rate increases. The effort has passed the House but faces opposition in the Senate. Sen. Josh Hawley is backing a nationwide pause on new data center construction until Congress passes protections against rate increases, bringing a prominent Republican into a debate over who pays for the facilities’ power needs. The push would make data centers cover their own power-related costs and has been led mainly by progressive Democrats. The proposal has passed the House but faces opposition in the Senate. BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink warned in an Oct. 14 interview, “If we have a moratorium of some sort in this country, we will be in a recession.” Fink’s [warning about a U.S. data-center moratorium]() raised an economic-growth concern about a construction halt. ## Links in this article - [warning about a U.S. data-center moratorium](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/people/32969)