Home · Politics · Oct 31 archive
Senate Blocks Daylight Saving Time Bill Despite Trump Pressure
Confirmed
In Short: The Senate is unlikely to act before the end of the year on a House-passed bill that would make daylight saving time permanent, defying President Trump and dashing the hopes of Americans who don't like changing their clocks twice a year.
As daylight saving time ends early Sunday and much of the country turns the clocks back an hour, several senators are holding up legislation that would eliminate the longtime U.S. practice.
In the winter of 1973, amid an energy crisis, Congress passed a law instituting permanent daylight saving time for what was supposed to be a trial period.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott signed legislation when he was governor in 2018 that would allow the state to remain on daylight saving time year round, pending federal approval.
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said that it's his understanding that the House bill is a 'non-starter' for Senate Republican leaders.
Scott said, 'I hear from Americans constantly that they are sick and tired of changing their clocks twice a year—it's an unnecessary, decades-old practice that's more of an annoyance to families than benefit to them.'
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts said, 'The head-spinning ritual of falling back and springing forward has a very real impact on our economy, our health, and our happiness,' when Scott introduced his own bill last year.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said, 'No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter.'
Cotton has doubled down in response to Trump's pressure, and several Republicans predicted in recent weeks that the bill won't come up for a vote in the short time left when the Senate returns to Washington after the Nov.
South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds said, 'You’d be sending kids to school in the dark.'
Trump renewed his call in a social media post this week, writing on Truth Social that 'United States Senate is letting the Daylight Saving Bill die, when a vast Majority of the Country want it.'
An AP-NORC poll last year found that only 12% of American adults were in favor of the current system, while almost half opposed it.
Bernie Moreno of Ohio was even more blunt when asked this month if he thinks the bill will pass the Senate anytime soon.
What this adds
The Senate is unlikely to act before the end of the year on a House-passed bill that would make daylight saving time permanent, defying President Trump and dashing the hopes of Americans who don't like having to change their clocks twice a year.
Specifically, researchers found the week after the spring time change is associated with higher risks of heart disease, injuries, mental health disorders, and immune diseases.
Background
The Senate is unlikely to act before the end of the year on a House-passed bill that would make daylight saving time permanent.
Dr. John La Puma, a California physician and expert in nature-based medicine, offered tips to help people adjust to the end of Daylight Saving Time, which occurs on Sunday, November 1, at 2 a.m.
What's confirmed
- As daylight saving time ends early Sunday and much of the country turns the clocks back an hour, several senators are holding up legislation that would eliminate the longtime U.S. practice.
- In the winter of 1973, amid an energy crisis, Congress passed a law instituting permanent daylight saving time for what was supposed to be a trial period.
- Florida Sen. Rick Scott signed legislation when he was governor in 2018 that would allow the state to remain on daylight saving time year round, pending federal approval.
- Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said that it's his understanding that the House bill is a "non-starter" for Senate Republican leaders.
- "I hear from Americans constantly that they are sick and tired of changing their clocks twice a year — it's an unnecessary, decades-old practice that's more of an annoyance to families than benefit to them," Scott said.
- "The head-spinning ritual of falling back and springing forward has a very real impact on our economy, our health, and our happiness," said Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, when Scott introduced his own bill last year.
- "No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter," said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
- Cotton has doubled down in response to Trump's pressure, and several Republicans predicted in recent weeks that the bill won't come up for a vote in the short time left when the Senate returns to Washington after the Nov.
- "you have high and dangerous steeples to reach, like on churches and municipal buildings."
- “You’d be sending kids to school in the dark,” said South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds.
- Even as many Americans now rely on digital clocks that change on their own, Trump said that "nobody wants to spend their precious time running all over the place, turning Clocks back twice a year."
- An AP-NORC poll last year found that only 12% of American adults were in favor of the current system, while almost half opposed it.
What's still developing
- The Inyo County coroner’s office, determined the climber to be Winston Chu, 49, of Santa Clara, California, according to the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office.
- “For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it’s very easy to do, it only takes one. It should pass overwhelmingly, in a Bipartisan fashion,” Trump posted.
- “If Tom Cotton were putting Arkansas first, he would give them an extra hour of daylight and, more importantly, they wouldn’t have to run all over their houses, farms, work places, and everywhere else, twice a year, having to change their Clocks, and often forgetting to do so,” he posted on Truth.
- Specifically, researchers found the week after the spring time change is associated with higher risks of heart disease, injuries, mental health disorders, and immune diseases.
- Clockmaker Scott Gow adjusts the hands of a clock at the Electric Time Company, Oct.