WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is urging Republican senators to “release their holds” and pass a measure making daylight saving time permanent nationwide.
A bipartisan bill passed the House in July but faces hurdles in the Senate, where members from both parties have pushed back against ending the semiannual clock changes.
“People are sick and tired of having to change their clocks twice a year,” Trump wrote in a social media post Tuesday night, adding that “it is foolish, inconvenient and, in some cases, very costly.”
Trump said “this is an issue that Republicans, Democrats, and Independents can unite behind” while asking GOP senators to “release their holds, and allow the hotline to clear on the Republican side.” Members of the Senate are scheduled to adjourn for an August recess later this week, though it’s also possible they may get delayed by pending legislation.
The president also flexed the benefits of ceasing the semiannual clock changes, saying “leading Medical, Crime, and Economic Studies” show it would help decrease robbery and murder rates, reduce car accidents, lower risk for cardiac issues, stroke and seasonal depression and also make it safer for children to get home from school, among other advantages.
Florida GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan introduced the measure in the House — dubbed the Sunshine Protection Act — which passed it, 308-117.
But the Senate has yet to take up the legislation, with at least one fierce critic of the move, GOP Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, having argued in a floor speech last year that making daylight saving time permanent would “push winter sunrises to an absurdly late hour, depriving Americans of morning sunshine that’s essential for our safety and well-being.”
Cotton also noted that the darkness from making daylight saving time permanent would be “especially harmful for schoolchildren and working Americans.”
Meanwhile, GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who sponsored a companion bill in January 2025, celebrated the House’s passage and urged the Senate to “take it up NOW and send it to President Trump’s desk,” per a July social media post.
