A populist fever is coursing through the midterms, forcing campaigns to retreat and recalibrate as they confront a groundswell of hostility toward AI data centers, Axios' Zachary Basu, Alex Isenstadt and Maria Curi write.

• Why it matters: Grassroots pressure is breaking the bipartisan consensus that enabled America's AI buildout. Candidates in both parties are racing to distance themselves from projects their own leaders spent years courting.

🖼️ The big picture: What started as scattered, localized NIMBYism is scaling into a national cross-partisan movement that could slow America's race for AI supremacy.

• In Ohio, former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown has spent millions on a summer ad campaign branding Republican Sen. Jon Husted as "the face of data centers," weaponizing Husted's years of courting the industry as lieutenant governor. As we scooped in AM yesterday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned AI companies a Husted loss could chill support for data centers nationwide. (Read the memo.)
• In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott — who once declared Texas "the epicenter of AI development" — is now pushing to restrict data centers in rural areas and strip away tax incentives after Democrat Gina Hinojosa branded the state the "Wild West of data centers."
• In Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro — who spent years courting data center investment — imposed sweeping guardrails this week after Republican challenger Stacy Garrity accused him of "rolling out the red carpet" for developers.
• In Wisconsin, GOP gubernatorial nominee Tom Tiffany is running ads attacking his Democratic opponent as "data center David Crowley." That puts Tiffany, a close President Trump ally, on the same side of the issue as Crowley's former primary rival, democratic socialist Francesca Hong.
• In Wyoming, Republican Chuck Gray won Tuesday's primary for the state's open House seat after running ads promising to "stop data centers" and calling for a federal ban.

👀 Behind the scenes: The backlash has caught the industry and political establishment flat-footed, triggering finger-pointing over who failed to see it coming — and who should pay to contain it.

• One Republican operative unloaded on GOP groups that spent months raising money from tech companies while holding back resources that could help candidates weather the attacks.
• "Maybe they should stop trying to shake down these tech companies and start putting the money that they raised from them into these elections," the operative said, pointing to the NRSC. "What are they waiting for?"

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul — who last month imposed the nation's first statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers — told Axios the NRSC's push for AI companies to improve their messaging is "tone-deaf" and "wildly inappropriate."

The other side: The White House and AI companies know they have a serious political problem, and moved earlier this year to address the biggest grievances at their source.

• Trump's ratepayer-protection pledge requires companies to cover the power generation and grid upgrades their projects require, rather than stick local customers with the bill.
• Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI and Amazon have all signed on, keenly aware of the threat to their massive AI ambitions.

Share this story.

America's national debt crossed an ominous threshold yesterday: $40 trillion — and rising by about $100 billion a week, Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes.

• Why it matters: It's not sustainable. The inevitable reckoning means some administration, some day — perhaps sooner than later — will have to make tough choices to get the public finances in order.

🧮 By the numbers: The debt has doubled in the last 10 years and quadrupled in less than 20.

• It's the equivalent of almost $117,000 of debt for every single person in the United States.

Between the lines: It's a psychologically important milestone that underscores the real problem: the debt's incessant, rapid growth.

• Both obvious options to tackle it — spending less or taxing more — are politically treacherous.

🧐 What to watch: By some estimates, at the current pace, a $50 trillion national debt is only about six years away.

• How we got here (WSJ gift link).

Axios' Courtenay Brown, who co-writes our midday Macro newsletter, explains why you should pay attention to chaos in the bond market:

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent moved to calm the bond markets yesterday after a recent selloff made mortgages and other consumer loans more expensive.

• Why it matters: The bond market impacts how much it costs everyone — the government, consumers, and companies — to borrow money.

The rising borrowing costs could deepen the affordability crisis, a political problem for President Trump heading into the midterms.

• Bessent's move to increase repurchases of long-term government notes and bonds (increasing demand for them) is largely symbolic but could still help bring those costs down.

🖼️ The big picture: The bond market is getting squeezed from multiple directions.

• War in the Middle East is reviving inflation fears, deficits are ballooning, and the AI boom is gobbling up cash — all pushing up the rates investors demand to lend the government money for decades.

🔮 What's next: Wall Street is skeptical the relief will stick, given that the Treasury Department's purchases are tiny compared with the roughly $30 trillion market for government debt.

• But the signal is important: Washington is showing it is willing to step in as high borrowing costs become an economic and political liability.

More on Bessent's move.

Diesel prices are soaring just as the energy-thirsty peak of harvest season looms for many of the country's largest crops, Axios' Ben Geman writes.

• Mid-August diesel prices (charted above) are at their highest in the last decade, according to AAA data.

Between the lines: It's a double whammy for farmers. The Iran war is also causing much higher fertilizer costs that hit months ago.

• Go deeper with Axios Future of Energy.

Democrats who ooze anti-Trump resistance credibility — even central figures in Trump's impeachments — are struggling to withstand the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America and their allies in party primaries, Axios' Andrew Solender writes.

• One House Democrat told Axios that "being aggressive on accountability and corruption (such as with impeachment) is not enough."

🔭 Zoom in: Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who rose to prominence as a witness in Trump's first impeachment, suffered an upset loss Tuesday in Florida's Democratic primary for U.S. Senate to DSA member Angie Nixon.

• Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), the highly visible lead counsel for the House Intelligence Committee during Trump's first impeachment, lost his primary to progressive former New York City comptroller Brad Lander.
• Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), an impeachment manager during Trump's second impeachment trial in 2021, lost to a DSA-affiliated challenger.

Keep reading.

Axios' Brittany Gibson, who tracks the Department of Homeland Security, writes:

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is building a reputation as a Cabinet official willing to do favors for his former colleagues in Congress — even at the risk of backlash from the White House and MAGA.

• Why it matters: Some of Mullin's most high-profile moves — such as pausing ICE agents' traffic stops and delaying border security construction along the Texas border — have come after personal appeals from friends on Capitol Hill.

🔎 Zoom in: Mullin's approach contrasts with that of his predecessor at DHS, Kristi Noem, who was frequently criticized for not communicating with Congress.

• DHS recently moved on concerns from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) about a border plan to build roads and security systems in the Big Bend state and national parks.
• In May, a call from Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) led to the release from ICE detention of Deisy Rivera Ortega, the immigrant spouse of a U.S. military member.

Share this story.

Vice President Vance hosted a fundraiser in the Hamptons last night for young Republican donors that raised more than $5 million, Axios' Alex Isenstadt has learned.

• The event drew several up-and-coming donors in their 30s and 40s — providing a glimpse into the finance network Vance is assembling ahead of a possible 2028 presidential run.

The players: The fundraiser, which drew about 35 people, was held at the home of 1789 Capital president Omeed Malik.

• Attendees included Donald Trump Jr., Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan and GRV Strategies founder Garrett Ventry.
• Cantor Fitzgerald president Brandon Lutnick, son of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, was also there, as was World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff, son of Steve Witkoff.
• Chris Buskirk, a key Vance ally and president of the Rockbridge Network, was a host.

Share this story.

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, have decided to return to the United Kingdom, but they won't resume their roles as working members of the royal family.

• The couple's children have already enrolled at British schools for September, according to London's Daily Telegraph.

The family plans to live at a private, non-royal residence outside London.