PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Scholten, Hillary J. [D-MI-3] · D–MI
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 11, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.10004 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.10004 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.10004 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.10004 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.
PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-07-30 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Defending Our Energy and Water Act would add water protections to existing requirements for covered new data centers, including use of the most water-efficient cooling systems. It would also require identifying and integrating potential water-saving technologies under a separate data-center provision, with the stated aim of strengthening operations and limiting effects on water resources.
This Act may be cited as the Defending Our Energy and Water Act.
to include requirements relating to protections for water resources at such data centers, including the use of the most water efficient cooling systems.
identify and integrate potential water efficiency technologies to enhance resiliency at the data center and minimize the effects of the data center operation on water resources
Within 180 days after enactment, the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government would have to revise the existing minimum requirements for new data centers established under section 834(b) of the fiscal year 2015 defense authorization law. The revised requirements would have to protect water resources and include use of the most water-efficient cooling systems.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government shall revise the minimum requirements for new data centers established pursuant to section 834(b) of the Carl Levin and Howard P. Buck McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (Public Law 113–291; 44 U.S.C. 3601 note) to include requirements relating to protections for water resources at such data centers, including the use of the most water efficient cooling systems.
The bill would change the sunset year—a scheduled expiration year—in section 834(e) of the fiscal year 2015 defense authorization law from 2026 to 2031. The amended subsection is not reproduced, so the supplied text does not establish the full scope of what would be extended.
(2) Extension of sunset Section 834(e) of the Carl Levin and Howard P. Buck McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (Public Law 113–291; 44 U.S.C. 3601 note) is amended by striking 2026 and inserting 2031.
The bill would add a requirement to identify and integrate potential water-efficiency technologies into the data-center provision in 10 U.S.C. 2921(a)(1). The stated purposes are to improve the data center's ability to withstand disruptions and minimize its effects on water resources; the text does not establish that these results would occur.
(b) Energy efficiency targets for data centers Section 2921(a)(1) of title 10, United States Code, is amended—
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following: (E) identify and integrate potential water efficiency technologies to enhance resiliency at the data center and minimize the effects of the data center operation on water resources; and .
The supplied action snapshot, updated August 11, 2026, records introduction in the House on July 30, 2026, and referral that day to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and Armed Services, each for provisions within its jurisdiction.
Source snapshot updated 2026-08-11T18:21:40Z.
2026-07-30: Introduced in House
2026-07-30: Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-07-30. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Aug 11, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI