Trump pushes Senate to vote on permanent daylight saving time bill ‘as soon as possible’
Trump pushes Senate to vote on permanent daylight saving time bill ‘as soon as possible’
Max Rego Sun, August 16, 2026 at 9:06 PM UTC
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President Trump on Saturday again urged senators to vote on a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, a measure some Republicans in the upper chamber oppose.
“The Senate must vote on the NO MORE CHANGING THE CLOCKS ACT as soon as possible,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025.
The House approved the legislation via a 308-117 vote last month. The bill, which retiring Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) introduced last year, proposes making daylight saving time the permanent standard time nationwide.
Residents in most of Arizona and all of Hawaii do not change their clocks twice a year. The Sunshine Protection Act would not force those states to make daylight saving time permanent, but it would repeal an exemption for states granted by the Uniform Time Act of 1966.
Individual state legislatures could exempt their states from adopting permanent daylight saving time if they take action no later than the day before the enactment of the Sunshine Protection Act.
Trump has for weeks urged the Senate, which is out of session until Sept. 14, to pass the bill. On Saturday night, he reiterated his argument in favor of it, writing that more sun later in the day “is better (including for fighting crime!).”
The president also said the practice of changing clocks and watches twice yearly causes “disruption and chaos.”
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Multiple GOP senators, though, have opposed the measure. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the No. 3 ranking member of Senate GOP leadership, outlined his opposition to the measure during a recent interview on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.”
“I understand that all Americans hate changing the clock. I hate changing the clock. But I think you have to think through the second-order implications … of what permanent daylight savings time would mean,” he told host Alex Marlow.
“It may sound great in the summer months, and it may sound great if you live in Florida and you like to play golf, but if you live in Bentonville, Arkansas, the sun wouldn’t come up in the depths of winter until well after 8 o’clock, maybe even 8:30,” the Arkansas Republican added.
Cotton also noted that Congress enshrined permanent daylight saving time in December 1973. While the change was supposed to last for two years, Congress repealed the law in the fall of 1974 after eight children in Florida were involved in predawn car accidents, Time magazine reported in 2022.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) noted last month he voted against similar legislation in the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee because it would result in very late winter sunrises in South Dakota.
As for whether the legislation had support from at least 60 senators to avoid the filibuster, Thune said, “Remains to be seen.”
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