Politicians Attack Data Centers While Profiting from their Construction - Mother Jones
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5 hours ago
Politicians Attack Data Centers While Profiting from their Construction
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are raking in millions from the AI boom.
Sophie Hurwitz Reporter
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62 Republicans and 43 Democrats in Congress report their households have related investments.
Mother Jones illustration; Lloyd Bishop/Getty, Finn Gomez/Getty, Chip Somodevilla/Getty
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During an October 15 debate between Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, a curious heckler interrupted.
“Senator Collins, I’m so sorry to interrupt, but I’m terrified,” the person shouted. “AI data centers, they’re destroying our climate, they’re poisoning our water!”
“This is obviously one of Troy’s supporters,” Collins said.
“Oh, shut up,” Jackson responded. **“I don’t even know that kid.”
@SenSusanCollins by yelling about AI data centers during Maine Senate debate:
Collins: "This is obviously one of Troy's supporters."
Jackson: "Oh, shut up… I don't even know that kid."
pic.twitter.com/Gy61ZIqBnF — CSPAN (@cspan) October 15, 2026
The heckler was escorted out. But he had a point:
According to Forbes, Collins’ husband, Thomas Daffron, holds an estimated $300,000 to $800,000 in AI- and data center-linked investments, making their household the Senate’s fifth largest such investor. (A Collins staffer did not comment on Daffron’s holdings, but told Mother Jones she invests in index funds and has never personally traded individual stocks.)
The share of America’s GDP contingent on data center buildout is now between 2 percent and 4 percent; total investment in the industry through 2032 is predicted to reach $10 trillion, per a recent Brookings Institution report. As a percentage of GDP, the AI infrastructure investment boom surpasses the size of the late-1990s dot-com bubble a year ago.
So it’s no surprise that Congressional lawmakers are cashing in—collectively, US representatives and senators hold between $100 million and $300 million in data-center-related investments, according to their financial disclosures.
One in five members (including 62 Republicans and 43 Democrats) report that they or others in their household are personally invested in “AI developers, chipmakers, cloud infrastructure providers, data center companies, or private AI startups,” according to a September analysis by Sludge. The top five investing households in such projects were all Democratic, including those of California Reps. Ro Khanna and Nancy Pelosi, and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey. Those lawmakers are also among Congress’ 10 most active stock traders, per Common Cause.
But members of Congress with smaller portfolios have also benefited from the boom. Often, they are lawmakers who, like Collins, have also publicly supported measures favorable to data center developers.
While 76 percent of her constituents oppose further data center construction, Collins has opposed a blanket ban.