Sen. McCormick: Locals Should Determine if They Want Data Centers, Not CEOs

Local municipalities should be in control of whether data centers are built in their communities as the United States works to beat China in the AI arms race, Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) told Breitbart News.

Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow interviewed McCormick at the 2026 Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) National Leadership Summit on Aug. 31, asking the senator how Republicans confront concerns about a growing surveillance state and environmental ramifications as the U.S. tries to dominate the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. 

“Let me start by saying, this battle with China is real for leadership in the world. The driver of power, of economic productivity is going to be AI, and you have to have computing power and energy to support that,” McCormick told Marlow.

“And China is playing a role here. China is having misinformation campaigns in America. Data centers and AI are 80/20 popular versus unpopular in China. They’re 20/80 in the United States. That’s not an accident,” he continued. “But I think part of the problem here is that no senator, no big-time CEO is going to go to a community in Pennsylvania, Pike County, or Columbia County where I grew up and say, ‘Hey, you need a data center.’ The people that should decide that have to be the township supervisors, the county commissioners. And if they’re going to invite a data center into their backyard, there needs to be a covenant.” 

“What goes with it?  What’s the benefit? And there’s five things: One: protection on energy — rate protection. Two: protection on water. These have to be closed-loop systems that recycle. Three: there has to be clarity on the tax implications. In most cases, this brings more money into the tax base and lowers property taxes. That needs to be explicit. Four: they need to hire local labor to make the benefit of this in the hands of the local community. And five: these guys are spending tens of billions of dollars. What are they going to do on schools, roads, bridges?” he continued. “That’s the package, and with that package, local people can make the decision.” 

“And listen, I have a family farm I own in Bloomsburg where I grew up. I don’t really want a huge big data center in my backyard either. I understand it,” he noted. “But if it comes with all of that and it’s going to help my community grow and be dynamic, I think a lot of people are going to opt in. And if they don’t opt in, which they have every right not to opt in, then I think they’re going to have to ask the question, ‘if not this, what is the economic engine that’s going to create opportunity for our kids?”‘

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.