Kansas Senator Roger Marshall voted on July 1, 2025 for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (roll call 372), which ends tax credits for wind and solar facilities placed in service after December 31, 2027, as data centers add record demand to the grid. In April 2026 he voted against requiring budget bills to lower home electricity bills. In Kansas, the utility Evergy plans to keep coal plants running, and Latitude Media reported that much of the state's existing coal fleet will likely stay online longer than planned thanks in part to data center load growth.
Marshall also voted against cutting off money for DOGE, whose staff used artificial intelligence across agencies, and he voted to confirm the Veterans Affairs secretary under whom a DOGE AI tool flagged contracts for cancellation and the Energy secretary whose orders keep retiring coal plants open, citing AI data-center demand.
Roger Marshall's Votes and Confirmations on AI and Data Centers
- Marshall Cast a Deciding Vote to Cut Credits for New Power Supply as Data-Center Demand Surged. On July 1, 2025, Roger Marshall voted yes on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed 50-50 with the Vice President's tie-breaking vote and ends credits for any applicable facility placed in service after December 31, 2027 that uses wind or solar. The Union of Concerned Scientists found that "Wholesale electricity costs attributable to data center-driven demand growth range from $411 billion to $524 billion, cumulatively from 2026 to 2035."
- Marshall Voted Against Requiring Budget Bills to Lower Home Electricity Bills in April 2026. On April 23, 2026, Marshall voted no on a motion to create a point of order against legislation that would not decrease home electricity bills; it failed 48-50. In February 2025 he had voted against a similar rule against legislation that would raise energy costs for Americans. Kansas residential electricity averaged 15.47 cents per kilowatt-hour in August 2026, up from 14.65 cents a year earlier, according to the Energy Information Administration.
- Marshall Voted Against Cutting Off Money for DOGE in March 2025. On March 14, 2025, Marshall voted no on Senator Chris Van Hollen's amendment to prohibit the use of appropriated amounts by DOGE; it failed 48-52. DOGE went on to use AI across agencies: at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a DOGE operative was tasked with using artificial intelligence to rewrite the agency's rules and regulations, and at Social Security a whistleblower says a former DOGE employee copied the Social Security numbers, names and birthdays of over 300 million Americans into a cloud system without independent oversight, which the agency disputes.
- Marshall Confirmed the Veterans Affairs Secretary Under Whom a DOGE AI Tool Flagged Contracts for Cancellation. On February 4, 2025, Marshall voted to confirm Doug Collins as secretary of veterans affairs. ProPublica reported in June 2025 that the DOGE AI tool flagged more than 2,000 contracts at the VA for cancellation and that it hallucinated the size of contracts, frequently misreading them and inflating their value; canceled contracts included one to maintain a gene sequencing device used to develop better cancer treatments.
- Marshall Confirmed the Energy Secretary Who Kept Coal Plants Open, Citing Data-Center Demand. On February 3, 2025, Marshall voted to confirm Chris Wright as secretary of energy. His department's emergency orders to keep retiring coal plants running carry out an executive order that cited demand driven by rapid technological advancements, including the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers; IEEFA counted at least $300 million in extra costs through mid-May 2026 for ratepayers.
What Data Centers and the Policies Roger Marshall Backed Mean for Kansas
- Coal plants kept running. Evergy is asking Kansas regulators to let it keep coal plants open longer, and Latitude Media reported that a substantial part of Kansas's existing coal fleet will likely stay online longer than planned thanks in part to data center load growth in the state.
- Local opposition. As Kansas counties weigh hyperscale data center proposals near Topeka and elsewhere, a national Gallup poll cited by the Kansas Reflector found 48% of Americans "strongly oppose" building data centers in their neighborhood.
Frequently Asked Questions About Roger Marshall on Artificial intelligence and data centers
What is Roger Marshall's record on artificial intelligence and data centers under Trump?
Roger Marshall cast one of the 50 votes for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which ends credits for new wind and solar projects as data centers drive record demand, and voted against requiring budget bills to lower home electricity bills. He voted against cutting off DOGE's funding and to confirm the officials under whom DOGE's AI tools flagged VA contracts and the Energy secretary who kept coal plants running, citing data-center demand. In Kansas, data-center growth is helping keep coal plants online longer.
Did Roger Marshall vote to keep funding DOGE?
Yes. Roger Marshall voted no on March 14, 2025 on an amendment to prohibit the use of appropriated amounts by DOGE, which failed 48-52. A whistleblower later said a former DOGE employee copied the records of over 300 million Americans at Social Security into a cloud system; the agency disputes that account.
How did DOGE use AI at the Department of Veterans Affairs?
Under Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, whom Roger Marshall voted to confirm, a DOGE AI tool flagged more than 2,000 contracts for cancellation and, ProPublica found, it hallucinated the size of contracts, misreading many of them.
Last updated: 2026-10-25