Hassett shrugs off data center backlash, says AI buildout rolls on

Kevin Hassett isn't blinking. The National Economic Council director said Friday that data center construction will keep humming along at its projected pace, even after voters across the country lined up to curb it. Appearing on CNBC's Squawk on the Street, he waved off the election-night rebuke as a speed bump, not a wall.

The rebuke was loud. At least 50 data center measures hit 2026 midterm ballots, and majorities voted to restrict development in at least 46 of them, according to Ballotpedia's tally. The CNBC Voter Poll found 56% of midterm voters rated data centers a crucial or major issue, and among those who called it crucial, 62% backed the generic Democratic candidate.

Hassett made the case that the calendar is on his side. He said the facilities already scheduled over the next couple of years won't be touched by the ballot initiatives. Beyond that, he argued, there's plenty of room left in the U.S. for growth to continue exactly as forecast before the election.

He also predicted a geographic shift. Data centers will keep expanding in states with friendlier governors, he said, and he expects even resistant states to eventually soften. Either the politics changes, he said, or the benefits become so obvious that voters rethink how they want the industry regulated.

The political heat has already hit markets. Hassett pinned Thursday's tech-driven plunge on uncertainty over what the new political landscape means for data centers, saying investors are anxious about a new majority that may meddle. Still, he said the rest of the economy is strong enough that slowing data center growth a notch wouldn't stop a blockbuster run.

President Donald Trump isn't backing down either. He has pushed to rebrand the technology as 'super intelligence,' or SI, and in a Truth Social post Friday he said he is 100% in favor of it, calling it GOLD and dismissing leaders who say no to the riches it brings.