For the past decade, Republicans have put short-term electoral victories ahead of conservative principles, criticizing the early 21st century Republicans as too devoted to their principles, although let's not pretend the Bush years were an era of principled conservatism. But the deeper problem has become the party’s willingness to sacrifice long-term prosperity for immediate political gain. The latest example is Republican support for a national moratorium on data centers. 

On Wednesday, Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley called for just that, listing it among the goals Senate Republicans should accomplish in the next six weeks before Democrats take control of Congress. Many of his other priorities were worthwhile. But a national moratorium on data centers was a striking proposal from a party that is supposed to champion economic growth.

"Senate Republicans trying to figure out what to do in the next 6 weeks? Here you go," the Senator wrote on social media. "DEFUND Planned Parenthood. MORATORIUM on data centers. SUSPEND the gas tax. FUND rural hospitals. SAVE AMERICA ACT."

As Republicans reel from a brutal midterm election cycle, analysts and political commentators have been quick to highlight polling showing that well over half of Americans considered congressional candidates’ positions on data centers a major or crucial factor in deciding whom to vote for. 

Hawley’s reasons for calling for a national moratorium remain unclear, but the proposal likely reflects an effort to repair the party’s image, or a belief that pausing AI infrastructure development would address affordability concerns. That argument has gained traction as overblown claims about data centers’ effects on utility bills have spread widely through the American public. 

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Are short-term political gains worth sacrificing long-term economic growth? Republicans should be willing to spend political capital defending growth and making the case for policies that may initially be unpopular. Instead, they increasingly embrace anti-growth policies in response to fears that are, in many cases, unsupported or unverified. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the debate over AI.

As politicians scramble to ban new technology or put roadblocks in its way, and Americans worry about data centers’ effects on water use, land use, utility bills, and Big Tech’s power, remember to ask: Who failed to modernize the electrical grid? Who has consistently pursued policies that raise your bills? Who has stood in the way of economic growth that could improve Americans’ lives? And whose regulations have entrenched the dominant firms they now denounce?

The answer is the exact same politicians now asking you to believe that blocking new technology will, this time, solve those problems.