Trump vows to eliminate Daylight Saving Time

By Brett Rowland
The Center Square

President-elect Donald Trump confirmed that Republicans will work together to ditch Daylight Saving Time, the practice of changing the clocks by an hour twice a year.

"The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation," Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

Trump's comments came days after both of his newly appointed Department of Government Efficiency leaders – Tesla CEO Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy – criticized the time-switching practice.

By law, clocks in most areas of the U.S. are adjusted ahead one hour in the spring and summer months – known as Daylight Saving Time – and returned back one hour in the winter months, known as standard time. The dates marking the beginning and end of Daylight Saving Time have changed as Congress has passed new statutes.

Recent efforts to keep or get rid of Daylight Saving Time have failed. 

In March, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., highlighted the importance of the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make Daylight Saving Time permanent.

"We're 'springing forward' but should have never 'fallen back,'" Rubio said in a statement. "My Sunshine Protection Act would end this stupid practice of changing our clocks back and forth."

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In March 2022, the Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act, sending it to the House for action. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi never brought the legislation up for a vote.

Not everyone is on board. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has opposed the Sunshine Protection Act. The AASM supports the elimination of the biannual time changes in March and November but is advocating for Congress to introduce legislation restoring permanent standard time.

"It is time to stop changing our clocks in the spring and fall, but making daylight saving time permanent is the wrong choice," AASM President Jennifer Martin said. "The science is clear: Restoring permanent, year-round standard time is the best option for our health and well-being."

Proponents say it could help reduce vehicle crashes by better aligning daylight hours to drivers' standard work hours; reduce risks for cardiac issues, stroke and seasonal depression; reduce energy usage and help the economy.

Congress enacted Daylight Savings Time in the U.S. after Germany's 1916 effort to save fuel during World War I, and its period of observance has since been lengthened. Congress initially mandated it for six months. In 2005, Congress extended DST to begin the second Sunday in March and end the first Sunday in November. As a result, the United States now has eight months of DST and four months of standard time.

The United States has also gone through periods of year-round DST, including 1942-1945 and 1974-1975.

In 2022, a Monmouth University poll found about 1 in 3 Americans want to maintain this clock-resetting practice. A plurality would prefer to make daylight saving time permanent. Using standard time year-round had few supporters. Six in 10 Americans (61%) would do away with the nation's twice-a-year time change while a little over one-third (35%) want to keep the existing practice. Those who want to stick with a single year-round time prefer to have later sunrise and sunset hours (44%) than the earlier setting offered by standard time (13%).

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