{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://huffman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/huffman-titus-lead-colleagues-in-demanding-answers-on-trump-admin-plans-to-open-public-lands-to-ai-datacenters", "Huffman, Titus Lead Colleagues in Demanding Answers on Trump Admin Plans to Open Public Lands to AI Datacenters", "2026-09-24", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "House", "CA", "Jared Huffman", "H001068", "huffman.house.gov", "huffman", "https://huffman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "Interior is reviewing at least a dozen proposals covering 17,600 acres across six states while shutting the public out\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Representative Dina Titus (D-Nev.), along with 14 House Democrats, sent a letter demanding answers from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on the Department's reported plans to hand over federal public lands for massive data center projects.\n\nThe Bureau of Land Management is reportedly reviewing at least a dozen data center proposals at the President's direction, covering at least 17,600 acres across Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. Burgum has met with dozens of technology and energy executives about data center build out since the 2025 executive order on data center permitting, and BLM officials have reportedly compiled lists of public land to target for development.\n\n\u201cOur public lands must not be managed by secret deals and industry-led schemes,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.\n\nThe lawmakers warned that the buildout will drive up costs for families already facing rising bills. One study found data centers could consume up to 12 percent of all U.S. electricity by 2028, straining the grid and pushing energy prices higher. At the same time, BLM has lost nearly half its staff under this administration, with a reported 50 percent vacancy rate in the Lands and Realty program that handles permitting. The agency proposed further cuts for fiscal year 2027 while naming data centers a top priority, which the members said will worsen backlogs for ready-to-build clean energy projects that would lower energy bills.\n\nThe letter points to the Townsite Data Center, the first BLM-approved data center on public lands, now held up in court after the agency let a developer reuse a permit issued for a solar project without new environmental review or public comment.\n\nThe members also raised alarm over Secretarial Order 3452, which directs Interior staff to streamline or exempt reviews of impacts to cultural and historic sites and to terminate Tribal consultation when an official decides further talks \"will not be productive.\"\n\n\u201cFederal public lands belong to all Americans, and all Americans deserve to have a say in development that would affect our lands, waters, and access to public resources,\u201d the members wrote.\n\n\u201cTo date, the Trump administration has taken no effort to involve the American public in these data center plans \u2013 only industry executives,\u201d they added.\n\nHuffman and Titus were joined by Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), Val Hoyle (D-Ore.), Susie Lee (D-Nev.), Teresa Leger Fern\u00e1ndez (D-N.M.), Dave Min (D-Calif.), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Emily Randall (D-Wash.), Luz Rivas (D-Calif.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).\n\nRead the full letter here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-25T10:04:52Z", "2026-09-25T10:05:46Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://huffman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/huffman-titus-lead-colleagues-in-demanding-answers-on-trump-admin-plans-to-open-public-lands-to-ai-datacenters"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9016610458493233, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}