Democrats are pitching themselves as the answer to the economic woes Americans are facing in their pursuit of power in Congress, but they have made a habit of blocking the GOP’s attempts to tackle cost of living issues.Affordability has become the centerpiece of the Democrats' campaign messaging heading into Election Day in November, and they’ve wielded it like a political cudgel that left-wing candidates from Michigan to Texas are using to browbeat Republicans.But in the Senate, it requires cooperation and compromise to tackle those issues, and Republicans say that their colleagues across the aisle have bedeviled that process.They’ll have one last shot Wednesday to address a sliver of the issue with a bill targeting data centers and voters' pocketbooks, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus are poised to block it.FIRST DATA CENTER BILL CLEARS HOUSE AS BOTH PARTIES SCRAMBLE FOR ANSWERS ON AFFORDABILITYSenate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill on July 22, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
Schumer was joined by other Democrats as they discussed plans to protect elections from alleged Republican influence.(Getty Images)"I think right now, the whole thing is just, you know, play politics with all these issues and get to the election," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital.
"I think that, you know, what you're seeing is that this is the party of no, can't take yes for an answer, and is interested in just trying to politicize everything going into the election."When asked if blocking the data center bill, and another that would ban members of Congress from trading stocks, could turn the table on Democrats’ messaging, Thune said "Well, it makes it pretty hard for Democrats to make that argument."Democrats don’t believe that blocking the bill from Sen.Jon Husted, R-Ohio, would hurt their affordability message, particularly because the legislation lacks teeth — m...