The House has approved legislation to stick with daylight saving time and stop changing clocks twice a year, but the bill faces opposition in the Senate.
Trump presses Congress to back permanent daylight saving time
While addressing a crowd in Michigan, President Trump urged the Senate to pass a bill making daylight saving time permanent.
President Donald Trump endorsed an end to daylight saving time, preventing the requirement to change clocks an hour twice a year to “spring forward” and “fall back.”
“Let’s get rid of daylight saving time stuff, OK?” Trump said July 27 at a rally at a General Motors plant in Michigan.
He noted that the House has approved legislation to allow states to abolish the time shift. The bill is pending in the Senate, which approved a similar measure in 2022.
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, said it’s not clear the legislation has the support of 60 senators needed to overcome procedural challenges.
“Hopefully, the Senate is going to approve that one,” Trump said. “The House approved it and we’re going to get rid of that.”
Daylight saving time is the period between March and November when most Americans set their clocks ahead by one hour to extend daylight later into the evening. The switch is designed to provide more evening daylight during the warmer months and more morning daylight during the winter.
The argument for ending the time change is that it contributes to health problems and traffic accidents from changing sleep patterns.
The states of Arizona and Hawaii, and the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico don’t observe daylight saving time. Another 19 states have approved legislation to halt the clock changes as soon as federal law allows it, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
“Locking the clock all year long would have positive impacts on sleep schedules, energy conservation, motor vehicle safety and our economy,” Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Kentucky, said July 13.
But Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, opposes the change and could block the legislation with procedural hurdles. He contends the sun would rise at “dangerously late hours” if daylight saving time were made permanent.