President Donald Trump is renewing his support for a bill that would make the U.S. observe Daylight Saving Time year-round.
In a Truth Social post on Wednesday evening, the President said he was “proud” that the House passed a bill last month that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent, and proceeded to call on the Senate to pass the measure.
“People are sick and tired of having to change their clocks twice a year. It is foolish, inconvenient and, in some cases, very costly,” Trump said. He went on to argue that the practice “is also bad for your health in the anxiety it creates,” and claimed that permanent Daylight Saving Time would have many benefits, including that it would “help Decrease Robbery and Murder Rates, Reduce Car Accidents (especially those involving Pedestrians!), Lower Risk for Cardiac Issues, Stroke, and Seasonal Depression, Make it Safer for Children to Walk Home from School.”
“This is an issue that Republicans, Dumocrats, and Independents can unite behind,” he continued. “I am asking Republican Senators to PASS THE SUNSHINE PROTECTION ACT, ASAP.”
Here’s what to know about the bill, and the controversy surrounding it.
What is the Sunshine Protection Act?
Under the current system, most people in the U.S. change their clocks twice a year, moving the clocks forward an hour in March for Daylight Saving Time and back an hour in November for Standard Time. During Daylight Saving Time, people see the sunrise and sunset an hour later, which, supporters argue, gives people an “extra” hour of daylight in the evening during the warmer months.
A number of states have previously made moves to remain in Daylight Saving Time permanently. Currently, however, they’re not permitted to enact that change under federal law. States are able to choose to stay in Standard Time year-round—but the only places that have so far taken that option are Hawaii and most of Arizona. The rest of the country continues to observe the biannual clock changes.
The bill that passed the House in July, called the Sunshine Protection Act, would enact a sweeping change to the system by making Daylight Saving Time year-round across the country—though it would also give states the ability to opt out of the shift.
The practice of changing the clocks twice a year is controversial: many Americans have expressed their desire to end it. But they’re a little more divided on whether they would prefer being in Daylight Saving Time or Standard Time year-round.
Proponents of the Sunshine Protection Act have argued that the change would encourage more outdoor activity and would lead to fewer traffic accidents and crimes. But sleep experts have objected to the proposal. Instead, they’ve backed observing Standard Time year-round, arguing that it would align best with people’s circadian rhythms, which in turn would be more beneficial for health and safety.
“Permanent daylight saving time would cause misalignment with human circadian rhythms, which are crucial for regulating sleep, mood, and overall well-being,” the American Academy of Sleep Medicine said in a statement condemning the House for passing the Sunshine Protection Act. “This biological misalignment would lead to chronic sleep deprivation and other health complications. It would also raise public safety concerns by increasing the risk of traffic accidents and pedestrian deaths, particularly for children waiting for school buses and walking to school in the dark.”
What would permanent Daylight Saving Time look like across the U.S.?
If the U.S. were to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, that would mean that, in the winter, the sun would seem to rise an hour later in the morning and set an hour later in the evening. How that would affect you, though, depends on where in the country you live.
For New Yorkers, the sunrise would shift from 7:18 a.m. local time on Jan. 15 under the current system to 8:17 a.m., while the sunset would happen just before 6 p.m. local time, instead of around 5 p.m.
But in some parts of the country, people would be at work or school for hours before they saw the sunrise. Residents of Juneau, Alaska, for instance, would experience a sunrise as late as past 11 a.m. local time in the winter, and a sunset at around 4:40 p.m. local time.
Where does the bill stand now?
The Sunshine Protection Act is now headed to the Senate. If it passes the upper chamber, then the measure will go to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
The Senate, though, is currently on recess and lawmakers in the upper chamber won’t return to the Capitol until Sept. 14, so any discussion on the legislation won’t take place until then.
And the bill’s future in the upper chamber is uncertain. The Senate previously voted in favor of observing Daylight Saving Time year-round by unanimous consent in 2022, but that effort stalled in the House. Now, a Senate version of the House measure has been sponsored by Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida and championed by Trump. But some members of their party have expressed doubts about the proposal.
Which Republican senators have objected to permanent Daylight Saving Time?
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton has publicly objected to year-round Daylight Saving Time. In a speech on the Senate floor in October, Cotton referenced when the country observed permanent Daylight Saving Time in 1974—a change that lasted for less than a year because it proved to be widely unpopular and ended up being repealed by Congress.
“In January of 1974, millions of Americans traveled to work and school in darkness. Commuter trains were delayed. Schoolchildren carried flashlights. Tragically, some of these kids were struck by cars and killed while walking to school in the dark,” Cotton said.
Read More: The U.S. Tried Permanent Daylight Saving Time Before. Here’s What Happened
“It’s said that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” he continued. “And that’s what would happen if Congress passes the so-called ‘Sunshine Protection Act.’”
He went on to say that for many people in his home state, year-round Daylight Saving Time would result in a sunrise after 8 or 8:30 a.m. in the winter, meaning that children in some parts of Arkansas would be starting school in the dark. He added that people like construction workers and farmers, who tend to start their jobs earlier in the morning but “need the sun to work,” would be working hours before the sunrise, which he said “would hurt their quality of life and potentially their safety in the workplace.”
“Americans in northern states and on the western side of time zones would be even worse off,” Cotton said. “For instance, the sun wouldn’t rise until nearly 9:00 o’clock during winter in Seattle. In Grand Rapids, the sun would rise as late as 9:15 a.m., and in Williston, North Dakota, they would not see the sun ‘till almost 9:45 a.m.”
He cited medical associations, including the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, that have expressed concerns about the health consequences of year-round Daylight Saving Time.
In an interview with CNN last month, Montana Sen. Steve Daines said that, for western states like his, the proposal is “not going to work for us.”
“I can see where Florida likes it for tee times at certain times of the year, but it doesn’t work so well for moms and dads putting kids on buses when the sunrise in Western Montana wouldn’t be ‘till 9:30 in the morning,” he said. “It’s not going to work for us.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota previously told reporters that it “remains to be seen” whether the bill would garner enough support to reach the 60-vote threshold required to overcome the Senate filibuster. Thune has not said how he would vote on the measure, but he voted against a similar proposal to make Daylight Saving Time permanent when it was debated in committee last year.
