Small distant figures of line workers in hard hats and harnesses work on the crossarm of a tall new lattice steel transmission tower in open grassland, another in a raised bucket beside it, a new cable running to a second tower farther off, and a white bucket truck and a trailer carrying a large cable reel parked in the grass below.

The Lame Duck

Senate Opens Debate on Making Data Centers Pay

The Senate voted 62–21 to take up the bill making data centers pay for grid upgrades; no senator who voted on both nights changed sides.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 — The Senate voted 62–21 on Tuesday night to take up the bipartisan permitting bill that would make data centers pay for their grid upgrades, a day after the bill cleared its first test, 73–25. Voting on roll call No. 258 began at 7:37 p.m., and the motion was adopted at 9:02 p.m., by the Senate Press Gallery’s log; it needed only a simple majority.

The motion was to proceed to H.R. 2347, which the Senate Democrats’ floor summary calls the “legislative vehicle” for the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act.The VehicleOn paper, H.R. 2347 is the Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act, a tax bill the House passed by voice vote on April 27. The Senate is using it to carry the permitting bill. Monday’s vote was on cloture on the same motion.

The bill is now the Senate’s business, and its coalition held: no senator who voted on both nights changed sides, by this paper’s count of the two rolls. What remains is a fight over which changes get a vote, run against a lame-duck calendar. In January a new Congress is sworn in, with Democrats taking majorities in both chambers, according to the Associated Press.

The Count

The drop of 11 yeas came from absences: 12 Monday yeas, among them Republicans John Cornyn and Mitch McConnell and Democrats Mark Warner and Jeanne Shaheen, did not vote.The AbsentMonday yeas who missed Tuesday’s vote: Republicans Cornyn, Ernst, Hawley, Justice, McConnell and Tuberville; Democrats Cortez Masto, Hickenlooper, Peters, Rosen, Shaheen and Warner. Sen. Tim Sheehy, a Montana Republican who missed Monday’s vote, voted yes. Four Monday nays, Elizabeth Warren among them, also missed it. “Post-midterm absences are also a significant wildcard,” The Hill wrote.

Republicans voted 46 to 1; the Democratic caucus, 16 to 20. The one Republican no was again Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota. “South Dakota landowners deserve to negotiate with stakeholders at the state and local level before federal intervention is required,” he wrote on Facebook, explaining Monday’s vote, as quoted by South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

On the Floor

The Senate Democrats’ schedule lists eight amendments now pending, all offered by Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Among them are a substitute, No. 6883, offered for Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, one of the bill’s four sponsors, and a motion to commit the bill to the Finance Committee with amendments. This paper has not seen their texts.

The Senate returns to the bill at noon Wednesday, with roll-call votes possible. The Senate Democrats’ schedule lists three cloture motions on judicial nominations, which ripen Thursday; this paper could not confirm whether any cloture motion had been filed on the bill or the substitute. Several Democrats want changes to the bill’s National Historic Preservation Act language after complaints from tribes that it would not give them adequate input, The Hill reported.

The House is waiting. Rep. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, the Republican chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, told Politico on Tuesday that he wanted changes on “grid reliability” and other electricity provisions. “We know there are parameters that we can operate within and we are trying to operate within those,” he said. “The details are still being worked out.” Major changes to the transmission section could upend the deal, Mr. Guthrie acknowledged, by Politico’s account; and if the House changes the bill, Politico noted, the Senate would have to consider it a second time.

Rep. Salud Carbajal, a California Democrat, cited “the tribal consultation issue, which is a great concern,” Politico reported, and progressive House Democrats have vowed to oppose the bill, The Hill wrote.

Its Democratic sponsors have sold the bill as a way to lower electricity costs, Politico noted. On Tuesday, the Labor Department reported that electricity prices rose 0.9 percent in October, seasonally adjusted.

Sources

  1. U.S. Senate, “Roll Call Vote 119th Congress, 2nd Session, Vote Number 258: On the Motion to Proceed (Motion to Proceed to H.R. 2347),” Nov. 10, 2026.
  2. U.S. Senate Press Gallery, “Floor log, Tuesday, November 10, 2026,” Nov. 10, 2026.
  3. The Associated Press, “More than a dozen key races remain too early to call one week after Election Day,” Nov. 10, 2026.
  4. GovTrack.us (from the official record at senate.gov), “Motion to Proceed on H.R. 2347: Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act — Senate Vote #258,” Nov. 10, 2026.
  5. U.S. Senate, “Roll Call Vote 119th Congress, 2nd Session, Vote Number 257: On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Motion to Proceed to H.R. 2347),” Nov. 9, 2026.
  6. Senate Democratic Leadership, “Wrap Up for Tuesday, November 10, 2026,” Nov. 10, 2026.
  7. Senate Democratic Leadership, “Schedule for Wednesday, November 11, 2026,” Nov. 10, 2026.
  8. Congress.gov, “H.R. 2347, Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act: all actions,” Nov. 10, 2026.
  9. Office of Management and Budget, “Statement of Administration Policy: S. 5653 – Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026,” Nov. 9, 2026.
  10. The Hill (via Yahoo News), “Permitting reform bill advances closer to Senate finish,” Nov. 10, 2026.
  11. Politico, “Senior House Republican pushing for changes to permitting bill,” Nov. 10, 2026.
  12. South Dakota Public Broadcasting, “Rounds is lone Republican vote against permitting reform, noting state-level concerns,” Nov. 10, 2026.
  13. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Consumer Price Index — October 2026 (USDL-26-1685),” Nov. 10, 2026.