James’ spokesperson didn’t answer questions on his votes to rip away local control

LANSING — Trump-backed John James has said that he wants local control when it comes to data centers, but new reporting from Michigan Advance shows that James voted 4 times in Congress to block local control of AI and data centers, including preventing local communities from enacting data center moratoriums. 

Advance reports that the U.S. House’s version of the One Big Beautiful Bill included a ban on the enforcement of any state or local laws which attempted to limit, restrict, or regulate AI and data centers for 10 years. 

James voted 4 different times in support of the provision, including the House’s ultimate passage of the OBBBA, as well as three different times in the House Energy and Commerce Committee: twice voting to advance it out of committee, and once voting against an amendment that would have removed it from the bill.

See each of James’ votes to block local control of data centers below:

• VOTE #1: House Roll Call Vote 145, James voted for the House Passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

• VOTE #2: Committee on Energy and Commerce Roll Call Vote #15, James voted to pass the OBBBA out of Committee 

• VOTE #3: Committee on Energy and Commerce Roll Call Vote #39, James voted to pass the OBBBA out of Committee 

• VOTE #4: Committee on Energy and Commerce Roll Call Vote #14, James voted against an amendment that would have removed the anti-local control provision from the bill

The National Conference of State Legislatures even sent a letter to James urging him and other committee members to not pass the local control ban—but James still voted for it. As he’s voted against local control, James has received at least $120,000 in contributions over his career from data center developers—including two max-out donations of $8,325 in his most recent report. 

“John James says he’s for local control, but in D.C. he voted four different times to ban local communities from establishing their own rules around data centers. James’ votes are clear: he wants to let D.C. politicians tell Michigan communities what to do on data centers,” said Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson Derrick Honeyman. “As he’s voted to rip away local control on data centers, James has pocketed more than $120,000 from data center developers over his career. John James is only out for himself and his donors, not the people of Michigan.” 

Read more below. 

Michigan Advance: As James pushes local control on data centers, past congressional votes sought to limit just that 

• U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township, the Republican nominee for governor, has staked his campaign’s data center platform on local control. But in Congress, he voted for legislation that would expressly prohibit state and local governments from regulating artificial intelligence systems — including data centers.
• However, James voted in May 2025 for the U.S. House’s version of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included an explicit 10-year moratorium stating that “no State or political subdivision thereof may enforce any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems.”
• That moratorium, part of a $500 million investment in an “artificial intelligence and information technology modernization initiative,” did not make it into the final version of H.R. 1 that became law. However, as a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, James voted in favor of the specific moratorium three times: twice voting to advance it out of committee, and once voting against an amendment that would have removed it from the bill.
• Bailey did not directly address questions about James’ votes for the moratorium within the House version of H.R. 1.
• The National Conference of State Legislatures, a bipartisan organization representing the interests of state legislatures, cautioned against a vote in favor of that provision, writing that it would “circumvent their authority to regulate the permitting, construction and operation of data centers within their borders” for states. 
• “This will severely limit the ability of states and localities to make decisions regarding the siting and operation of these large-scale projects, raising costs for ratepayers, jeopardizing zoning decisions that protect our mutual constituents and impacting existing infrastructure such as power grids and generating facilities,” Tim Storey, the group’s CEO, wrote in a letter. 
• Meanwhile, James, who has aligned himself closely with President Donald Trump and received his endorsement in the primary election, must now navigate Trump’s enthusiastic support for data centers. 
• In a post Monday on Truth Social, Trump said that the United States should “let Data Reign” and that if communities push back against data centers, they “want to end up being backwards and poor.” 

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