The U.S. Senate on Monday advanced a bill to overhaul U.S. energy permitting and the power grid, overcoming the minimum threshold needed to start debate on legislation.

The vote on the measure was 73–25, well beyond the 60 votes needed to advance the package.

The bill, written by Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), has President Donald Trump’s approval.

Called the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, the bill would make it easier to receive federal permitting for energy projects. The legislation is aimed at providing relief to traditional energy sources and mines—a GOP demand—while also expanding the U.S. power grid and providing clean energy infrastructure, a key Democratic goal.

Trump encouraged lawmakers to back the bill in a post on Truth Social.

“I am urging all Senators to vote for The American Affordability and Jobs Act (S. 5653)! This Bill is a BIG WIN for U.S. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE and DOMINANCE,” Trump wrote.

“This Landmark Permitting Reform Legislation will codify our America First Energy Agenda, and ensure that we can build Pipelines, Mines, and Power Plants faster than ever before, lowering Energy Costs for American Families, and creating High Paying American Jobs,” he said.

Trump also referenced the bill’s inclusion of mechanisms to require builders of new data centers to pay for their own power and “help invest in their local communities.”

Data centers were a critical issue across the election cycle. The data centers used to power artificial intelligence services like ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Grok, and others—aside from their extensive land requirements—require massive amounts of energy from the local power grid.

Despite promises by many data centers to provide their own power, residents in areas where such centers have been built have reported spikes in their energy bills. Anxiety over the possibility of such utility price jumps has driven many American communities to be skeptical or openly hostile to the construction of such facilities in their area.

The president, a proponent of data center expansion, said that China “will take any data center that we don’t want.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said he opposes the package because it would speed construction of natural gas pipelines and LNG export facilities, weaken environmental protections, and limit tools to challenge projects. However, he praised the bill’s transmission and data-center provisions.

“I will vote against the bill before us today, but I look forward to working with my colleagues to get permitting reform right,” he said in a statement.