On Friday, President-elect Donald Trump announced that Republicans would push to repeal daylight saving time, labeling it both “inconvenient” and “costly.”
For years, lawmakers have proposed legislation to make a permanent standard time, but such efforts have struggled to gain traction in Congress. Despite ongoing debates, no resolution has emerged to unify the country’s approach to timekeeping.
“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 declared on Truth Social.
As CNN reports:
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, whom the president-elect has tapped to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, have also recently said they support eliminating the biannual ritual of falling back and springing forward, which would require congressional approval.
While other objectives floated by Musk and Ramaswamy for their department have been criticized as unwieldy or not possible, the semi-annual clock change is a tradition that has lost its appeal to many voters, polls have shown.
And the change, if enacted, would be sweepingly impactful, affecting how hundreds of millions of people start and end their days. It’s also an idea that some key members of Trump’s incoming administration and the Republican Senate caucus have vocally supported for years.
Most US states change their clocks forward in March and back in November, attempting to balance the amount of sunlight people receive on a given day. Some advocates for change support a permanent standard time, keeping the clocks as they are from November to March year-round. This would lead to parts of the country experiencing earlier sunrises and sunsets than they usually do during those five months – leaving more light in the morning and less in the evening. This approach is supported by medical groups and professionals who say it most closely aligns with the body’s natural circadian rhythm.
Proponents argue that getting rid of the twice-yearly clock changes would provide more evening sunlight. This, they say, would encourage outdoor activities and enhance economic productivity. On the other hand, critics warn that this change would lead to darker evenings in the winter, which could pose risks for drivers facing longer periods of darkness during their commutes.
Maintaining standard time year-round, however, would ensure more morning sunlight, a benefit for those who prefer brighter starts to their day.
Trump remarks instantly reignited a debate that has simmered since daylight saving time was first introduced during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency in 1918 and widely adopted in the 1960s.
While daylight saving time continues to divide opinion, the conversation underscores broader questions about how Americans value time, productivity and safety in their daily lives.
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For years, lawmakers have proposed legislation to make a permanent standard time, but such efforts have struggled to gain traction in Congress. Despite ongoing debates, no resolution has emerged to unify the country’s approach to timekeeping.
That is backwards. The legislative proposals have been for permanent daylight time, not standard time. Under CURRENT law, every state already has the option of permanent standard time.
Yes, stop changing the clocks. It’s always been my biggest pet peeve. It gets dark earlier in the winter all on its own, so just leave the clock on summer hours. This dark at 5 pm bullcrap has everyone ready for sleep by 9 pm.
I’m all for keeping the clocks alone but only if it’s kept at the summer hours & not the depressing winter time
Please show President Trump this. They wanted to do away with it years ago, but they changed their minds because too many kids will get hit going to school or getting on a bus when it is that dark in the morning. A little inconvenience for is worth it to save the children’s lives.
Stay on Std Time Now