WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States government plans to allow the Federal Data Center Enhancement Act to expire in the fall. Congress and the Trump administration have not introduced legislation or executive actions to extend or replace the Act.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has not issued guidance for federal agencies regarding the Act's expiration or reporting requirements beyond its timeline. A search of the OMB's Unified Agenda database indicates no active entries for the Act. The OMB stated it will fulfill all statutory requirements related to federal data centers.

U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen sponsored the Act in 2023. "Data centers across the country house critical and sensitive information, and we need to ensure they are protected from increased cyber threats and natural disasters. My team and I are aware that the Federal Data Center Enhancement Act is set to sunset this fall and are looking at all options to ensure Americans’ personal information housed in data centers continue to be secure," Rosen said.

The Act requires federal agencies to consult a data center energy specialist for design recommendations and mandates agencies to report on the sustainability of offsite contractor data centers. The Act did not allocate dedicated funding for agency compliance; instead, agency chief information officers independently managed funding to comply. The current administration discontinued the Federal IT Dashboard, which publicized metrics on federal IT contracts and data center spending.

Before 2010, federal oversight of agency data center construction was limited. Federal agencies independently constructed data centers, with some facilities located in areas prone to flooding or lacking energy efficiency standards. The Obama administration initiated a program to consolidate federal data centers and migrate agency data to cloud services. Legislation passed in 2014 set targets for federal data center consolidation, budget savings, data security, and energy monitoring.

Members of Congress introduced legislation this year concerning environmental reviews of data centers and local construction moratoriums. The legislation does not address the Act's requirements or federally managed facilities. The Electric Power Research Institute estimates that data centers could consume at least 9 percent of U.S. electricity by 2030. A May Gallup poll indicates that more than 70 percent of Americans oppose the construction of data centers in their local communities.