Sen. Chris Van Hollen urges reforms to ICE, warns of DHS funding deadline and outlines data-center bill
February 05, 2026 | Howard, Delegation Committees, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative, Maryland
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Sen. Chris Van Hollen spoke to the Howard County delegation about federal priorities and local impacts, focusing on immigration enforcement, federal appropriations and a bill he calls "Power to the People" to hold data centers financially accountable for strain on the grid.
Van Hollen opened by criticizing recent ICE operations and facilities, saying videos from a Baltimore holding facility showed inhumane conditions and asserting his office had "confirmed they were indeed from there." He praised Howard County officials for quickly changing a local ordinance to block ICE from purchasing a facility in Elkridge and said that while the state’s Dignity Not Detention Act limits contracts with ICE, it does not stop ICE from buying private property.
"Not 1 more dime for a lawless ICE," Van Hollen said, arguing that additional DHS funding should be contingent on meaningful reforms. He told the delegation that most federal appropriations for fiscal 2026 have been passed but funding for the Department of Homeland Security remained unresolved, giving Congress "about 11 days" to act before DHS would run out of money. He proposed splitting DHS funding so essential components such as TSA, Coast Guard and FEMA could be financed immediately while separating the contentious elements tied to immigration enforcement.
Van Hollen also described ongoing concerns about efforts to reclassify federal civil-service jobs under "Schedule F," which he said could convert roughly 85,000 nonpartisan policy positions into politically appointed posts. He said he is co-chairing a caucus effort to protect federal employees from those changes.
On energy and affordability, Van Hollen laid out a proposal to address how data centers affect households in PJM, saying roughly $28,000,000,000 in costs tied to data centers have been passed on to ratepayers in the region. He described his "Power to the People" bill as creating a separate rate class for data centers, giving priority to centers that bring their own power and environmental safeguards, and requiring that data centers be first in line for load shedding if they threaten grid reliability so households do not suffer brownouts.
Van Hollen also recounted his role on the Appropriations Committee and said the delegation’s staff can provide a final list of congressionally directed projects and earmarks that would benefit Howard County now that several appropriations bills have moved.
He left time for questions from delegation members and reiterated his availability to the delegation and his staff’s contact information.
The delegation followed Van Hollen’s remarks with questions about water use in data-center cooling, the scope of the infrastructure bank proposal and the federal green bank created under the Inflation Reduction Act, matters Van Hollen addressed in his responses.
Van Hollen opened by criticizing recent ICE operations and facilities, saying videos from a Baltimore holding facility showed inhumane conditions and asserting his office had "confirmed they were indeed from there." He praised Howard County officials for quickly changing a local ordinance to block ICE from purchasing a facility in Elkridge and said that while the state’s Dignity Not Detention Act limits contracts with ICE, it does not stop ICE from buying private property.
"Not 1 more dime for a lawless ICE," Van Hollen said, arguing that additional DHS funding should be contingent on meaningful reforms. He told the delegation that most federal appropriations for fiscal 2026 have been passed but funding for the Department of Homeland Security remained unresolved, giving Congress "about 11 days" to act before DHS would run out of money. He proposed splitting DHS funding so essential components such as TSA, Coast Guard and FEMA could be financed immediately while separating the contentious elements tied to immigration enforcement.
Van Hollen also described ongoing concerns about efforts to reclassify federal civil-service jobs under "Schedule F," which he said could convert roughly 85,000 nonpartisan policy positions into politically appointed posts. He said he is co-chairing a caucus effort to protect federal employees from those changes.
On energy and affordability, Van Hollen laid out a proposal to address how data centers affect households in PJM, saying roughly $28,000,000,000 in costs tied to data centers have been passed on to ratepayers in the region. He described his "Power to the People" bill as creating a separate rate class for data centers, giving priority to centers that bring their own power and environmental safeguards, and requiring that data centers be first in line for load shedding if they threaten grid reliability so households do not suffer brownouts.
Van Hollen also recounted his role on the Appropriations Committee and said the delegation’s staff can provide a final list of congressionally directed projects and earmarks that would benefit Howard County now that several appropriations bills have moved.
He left time for questions from delegation members and reiterated his availability to the delegation and his staff’s contact information.
The delegation followed Van Hollen’s remarks with questions about water use in data-center cooling, the scope of the infrastructure bank proposal and the federal green bank created under the Inflation Reduction Act, matters Van Hollen addressed in his responses.
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