President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration, alongside the Republican Party, will work to permanently eliminate daylight saving time (DST) when he takes office. Trump criticized the twice-yearly clock changes, calling them "inconvenient and very costly to our Nation."
In a post on TruthSocial, Trump wrote, "The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn't!"
The debate over daylight saving time, in place across most of the U.S. since the 1960s, has gained traction in recent years. Supporters of maintaining or expanding DST argue that brighter afternoons and evenings boost economic activity and reduce energy use during winter months. However, critics say the practice disrupts sleep, causes health issues, and leads to darker mornings that could endanger schoolchildren.
Trump's stance aligns with a growing push to address the issue. In March 2022, the Senate unanimously voted to make DST permanent, but the effort stalled in the House due to a lack of consensus. A bipartisan group of senators revived the proposal earlier this year, though Congress has yet to revisit the matter.
Historically, year-round DST has been implemented twice in the U.S. — during World War II and briefly in 1973 during the oil embargo — but both efforts were rolled back due to public opposition.
Two of Trump's key advisers, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, appear to back the idea of eliminating time changes altogether. Musk, who has been tapped to help lead the newly proposed Department of Government Efficiency, posted last month on X, "Looks like the people want to abolish the annoying time changes!" Ramaswamy replied to Musk, adding, "It's inefficient & easy to change."
However, not everyone in Trump's circle shares the same view. Donald Trump Jr. voiced support for keeping DST year-round, replying to Musk with "Leave it daylight savings time always," accompanied by a series of "100" emojis to emphasize his agreement.
Congress has not held hearings on the issue in over two years, leaving the future of DST uncertain. In fact, in 2018 Florida Senator Marco Rubio introduced the Sunshine Protection Act to eliminate daylight savings. In 2022, the bill passed the Senate but was never passed in the House.
While several states have also introduced legislation to remove daylight savings, only Arizona, Hawaii and Puerto Rico do not currently observe the practice along with the rest of the country.
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