Bernie Sanders

Rule Changes

Lead sponsor of Raise the Wage Act seeking $17 federal minimum by 2030

On January 1, 2026, nineteen states raised their minimum wages—some by pennies, others by dollars—while Congress let the federal floor sit untouched at $7.25 for the sixteenth straight year. Washington state now leads at $17.13 an hour. Missouri and Nebraska hit $15. Hawaii jumped $2 in one leap. The increases will pump $5 billion into the pockets of 8.3 million workers this year.

Updated May 20

Rule Changes

Administered oath at Mamdani's public ceremony

Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democratic Socialist, became New York City's mayor on January 1, 2026—the city's first Muslim and South Asian mayor, and its youngest. His swearing-in at midnight beneath City Hall included two Qurans, and within hours he signed executive orders targeting landlords and accelerating housing construction.

Updated May 19

Built World

First federal legislator to call for national data center moratorium

Since late 2022, U.S. regulators and utilities have warned that AI-optimized data centers could reshape national power demand, ending an era of flat electricity consumption and forcing rapid buildout of generation and transmission. By early 2026, those warnings have crystallized into concrete challenges. PJM Interconnection's December 2025 capacity auction hit the $333.44/MW-day price cap and failed to meet reliability requirements for the first time in its history. Data centers accounted for $6.5 billion—or 40%—of the auction's $16.4 billion in costs.

Updated May 10