Trump backs move to end twice-yearly clock changes

President Donald Trump said he supports a bill in Congress to end the twice-yearly change to daylight saving time, after the effort won overwhelming bipartisan backing.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted on Thursday, local time, to advance the “Sunshine Protection Act” by 48 votes to one, a measure that would make daylight saving time permanent. The proposal has 32 co-sponsors from both parties in the House, while a similar Senate measure has 18 sponsors from the Democratic and Republican parties.

Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: “It is time for people to stop worrying about the ‘clock,’ not to mention all the work and money that is spent on this ridiculous twice-yearly event.” He added: “This is a very important issue because hundreds of millions of dollars are wasted each year by individuals, cities, and states because they are forced to change their clocks.”

Trump also said: “Many of these clocks are in towers, and the cost of renting or using heavy equipment to do this twice a year is extremely expensive!” He wrote on Thursday: “I will work hard to see the Sunshine Protection Act pass and become law.”

The measure has been folded into a transportation bill and would eliminate standard time entirely. That would mean clocks moving forward by one hour in the spring would stay that way permanently, with the return to standard time every fall removed.

Supporters say the change would generally bring an extra hour or more of sunlight at the end of each day, which they believe would help public safety and economic productivity. Critics say permanent daylight saving time would also mean winter sunrises could come much later in some places, with daylight not appearing until 8 a.m. or 9 a.m.

Opponents also argue that permanent daylight saving time would clash with the body’s natural sleep cycle, with dark evenings encouraging sleep and bright mornings waking the body. Some health experts say making standard time permanent would be more in line with those biological rhythms.

It was not clear who cast the lone no vote on Thursday, though Representative Nanette Barragán, a Democrat from California, raised arguments about the health effects of permanent daylight saving time, according to The Hill.

Any change still has a long way to go before becoming reality. Thursday’s successful vote is only the first step, and the bill still needs approval from the full House of Representatives and then the Senate before it can become law.

The change has been proposed every year since 2018, when Representative Vern Buchanan, a Republican from Florida, regularly advanced it with bipartisan support, though it never passed. It was briefly passed under President Nixon in 1974, but was repealed that same year by President Ford.

The current push comes even as Trump has continued to support it, and he reiterated that backing this time. He wrote: “We are moving toward the much more popular option, which is keeping daylight, giving you a longer and brighter day — and who could be against that — this is an easy and settled matter!”