By The Daily Wire (World News) | Created at 2026-10-06 19:15:59 | Updated at 2026-10-06 21:54:10
7 hours ago
Democrats pushing restrictions on data centers ahead of the midterms have faced resistance from construction unions whose members depend on the projects for work, with one union warning that opponents could lose its political and financial support.
“Data center bans eliminate good-paying union construction jobs, as well as jobs in sectors like energy and manufacturing related to the AI build out,” stated the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union. “For IBEW members, these projects result in steady work, high wages, and career opportunities in a booming industry.”
The organization urged Congress to “reject one-size-fits-all” bans. Steamfitters Local 602, which represents 6,100 workers in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., told candidates that opposing data centers means losing the union’s political and financial support. The union’s business manager, Sidney Bonilla, told the Wall Street Journal it’s an “existential moment.”
The dispute threatens to strain Democrats’ relationship with longtime allies that have supplied the party with campaign money, volunteers, and votes. For construction unions, restrictions on data centers could mean fewer jobs for their members.
“We are dependent on these jobs,” Bonilla said, adding that the union plans to carefully examine a politician’s record on data centers before offering their support.
The broader backlash has centered on electricity costs, water consumption, and noise, with politicians in both parties halting approvals or tightening oversight, the Journal reported. The IBEW opposes construction bans but supports requiring data center owners to cover infrastructure costs and protect other electricity customers from higher bills.
The Trump administration has noticed the tension. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at a G20 ministerial meeting in North Carolina that construction unions were resisting the campaign against the projects.
“The construction unions came back and pushed back against the data center backlash … And they said, we will go after anyone who attacks these because these are great projects.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) unveiled legislation in March that would freeze new AI data center construction until national safeguards are in place.
Other Democrats have pursued narrower restrictions. In August, Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order removing data centers from the state’s fast-track permitting program and requiring local approval before state permits are issued.
Shawn Steffee, a business agent for Boilermakers Local 154 in Pittsburgh, told a Washington Post columnist that he still backs Shapiro but believes the governor is wrong on data centers.
“Not everybody’s a predator,” Steffee said. “They’re investors, and they want to invest, and I think we need to have guardrails, and we do need to be more transparent with the communities they’re going in. And I think we can do that.”
He also questioned why public opinion had turned so sharply against the projects.
“The public perception of these is so terrible, and I don’t know how we got there when it’s something that every one of us is going to need to use every day, and we’re using it right now,” he said. “I just don’t understand why this has become such a bad perception.”
“I don’t care if you have a D, or an R or an I after your name,” Steffee said. “All I care about are the jobs.”
