# Senator Urges Federal Permitting Reform

Sen. Dave McCormick is urging Congress to prioritize federal permitting reform during the lame-duck session, arguing that faster approvals for energy infrastructure are needed to support AI compute capacity, data centers, and U.S. national security. Proposals discussed include deadlines for environmental reviews and digital permitting-tracking tools; the report identifies no solicitation, award, or funded procurement.

- Energy, data-center, and permitting-technology firms may see changes to project timelines or future demand if Congress advances the proposed reforms, but no contract opportunity is announced.
- Procurement teams supporting infrastructure and data-center projects can account for potential permitting changes in schedule assumptions; the proposals are not yet enacted requirements.
- Companies can assess whether their permitting and project-tracking capabilities align with the discussed digital tools and environmental-review timelines.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Energy & Utilities, Construction & Infrastructure, Information Technology
**Topics:** Policy, Digital Infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence
**Published:** October 19, 2026

### Government Entities
- U.S. Congress (Congress)
- U.S. Senate (Senate)

### Key Quotes
> To have AI leadership, you have to have compute. To have compute, you have to have energy. To have this, you need data centers.
> — Dave McCormick, U.S. Senator

### Sources
- [Permitting reform ‘single most important thing we could do for national security,’ senator says - Nextgov/FCW](https://www.nextgov.com/policy/2026/10/permitting-reform-single-most-important-thing-we-could-do-national-security-senator-says/416690) - Nextgov/FCW
- [Permitting reform ‘single most important thing we could do for national security,’ senator says - Nextgov/FCW](https://www.fcw.com/policy/2026/10/permitting-reform-single-most-important-thing-we-could-do-national-security-senator-says/416690) - Nextgov/FCW