As Republicans struggle to deal with a powerful backlash against AI data centers, Ohio GOP U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno on Thursday issued a blunt warning: Companies can stop taking taxpayer subsidies, states can stop giving them — or the feds will tax them down to nothing.

However, the office of his Republican colleague, Ohio’s Jon Husted, wouldn’t say if Husted supported the move.

Republicans — and many Democrats — have enthusiastically supported tax breaks for data center construction. And Ohio has been particularly supportive. 

Former Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, quietly gave 40-year tax breaks to Google, Meta and Amazon to build them even though once built, data centers produce relatively few jobs.

Kasich’s successor, Mike DeWine, also a Republican, himself embraced tax breaks to such wealthy companies even though the companies were clearly desperate to build as much computing capacity as they could.

In May, DeWine paused new incentives after Signal Ohio reported that their 2025 costs in the state turned out to be $1.4 billion more expensive than taxpayers had been told.

But as public opinion swung hard against data centers, DeWine’s former lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, has found himself in a bind. 

DeWine appointed Husted to the U.S. Senate in early 2025 when JD Vance left the seat to become vice president. Now Husted is fighting to keep it in a tight midterm contest against former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat.

Predictably, Brown and other Democrats are trying to use voter fury over data centers against Republicans who had enthusiastically supported them. Those attacks appear to have hurt Husted particularly. 

On Aug. 18, the National Republican Senatorial Committee issued a memo saying that if the issue sinks Husted, it would be catastrophic for data center construction.

“More than any other thing in this race, data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck,” it said. “If he loses and data centers get the blame, politicians across the country will take notice — and they will not go near the next one.”

One of the main drivers of data center opposition has to do with the vast amounts of electricity it takes to power them.

Americans object to increased rates when the centers pull power off of the grid, and to noise and pollution when they generate their own “behind the meter.”

A Republican-dominated energy-affordability summit was held in Columbus Thursday.

It advocated streamlining permits for energy pipelines and power transmission. But it seemed designed in part to get on the right side of voters on data centers and their effect on power prices.

But in a five-minute opening talk, Husted only mentioned data centers once. He touted a ratepayer-protection plan intended “to make sure data centers have their own energy supply…”

Husted then departed without taking questions from the press.

When it was his turn to talk, Moreno was much more voluble on the topic.

A longtime Cleveland car dealer, he said the way data centers have been presented to Americans makes it no surprise that they’re hated.

Instead of explaining why it’s strategically important to keep up with China, or AI’s benefits in research and other areas, tech companies and government officials have left the public with a different impression, Moreno said.

 “These data centers are going to come into our community and take our water and pollute our environment,” he said. “They’re going to raise our electricity prices. They’re eventually going to put us out of work — and our taxpayer dollars are going to support the construction of these things.

“It’s the worst sales pitch in the history of sales pitches.”

Moreno then proposed a fix to the last of those problems.

“We have to acknowledge that and say we screwed up,” he said. “No. 1, no taxes. I don’t want a single taxpayer dollar going to support a data center. Period.”

Moreno added that tax subsidies are “up to local communities and state governments. But I most likely am going to introduce federal legislation that says if a state or local government gives a data center a tax incentive, the federal government will tax that incentive at 100%. You can take that out of the equation. No more taxpayer dollars. Period. If you want to win over the American people, that’s the way it works. Stop taking tax money.” 

Asked if Husted agreed with Moreno’s proposal, Husted’s office didn’t respond.

Ohio has already handed out $2.3 billion to data center projects controlled by some of the richest people in the world. Speaking to reporters, Moreno said there was no way to recoup that money.

“There’s no way to get that back,” he said. “The guy who ultimately negotiated that deal was John Kasich… I’ve encouraged the companies to take no more, that they stop. But again, we may have to take federal action to make that happen. Nothing (more)  infuriates taxpayers who say, ‘Wait a minute. I can’t afford to pay my bills, and you’re giving this multi-billion-dollar company money?

“That’s bullshit. So the companies can stop on their own. Or the states can stop. Or the federal government has to take action to do that, and I’m prepared to make that happen.”