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Senate Blocks Daylight Saving Time Bill
· Confirmed
In Short: President Donald Trump urged the Senate to clear a House-passed bill to make daylight saving time permanent, calling it 'a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), joined by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), blocked a renewed bipartisan push in the Senate Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent, halting an effort that aimed to end the twice-yearly clock changes.
Cotton cited concerns about late sunrises in winter, stating, 'For many Arkansans, permanent daylight savings time would mean the sun wouldn’t rise until after 8:00 or even 8:30am during the dead of winter. The darkness of permanent savings time would be especially harmful for school children and working Americans.'
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) had sought unanimous consent to advance his 'Sunshine Protection Act,' which would allow states to stay on daylight saving time year-round. However, Cotton's objection effectively halted the bill's progress.
Cotton took 'full responsibility' for not blocking a similar measure earlier, vowing to ensure it did not advance this time. He argued that changing the time can be dangerous, especially when 'you have high and dangerous steeples to reach, like on churches and municipal buildings.'
The period of daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. As daylight saving time ends early Sunday, much of the country will turn the clocks back an hour.
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. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., hasn’t weighed in publicly on the House bill, but he has voted against similar versions in the past.
President Donald Trump urged the Senate to clear a House-passed bill to make daylight saving time permanent, calling it 'a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America, itself.'
What this adds
The debate over daylight saving time has taken on a new dimension in recent years, with lawmakers in Washington and state capitals weighing whether to keep the current system, adopt permanent daylight saving time, or stick with standard time year-round.
Background
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), joined by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), blocked a renewed bipartisan push in the Senate Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent, halting an effort that aimed to end the twice-yearly clock changes.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) blocked a bipartisan push in the Senate Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent, halting an effort that aimed to end the twice-yearly clock changes.
What's confirmed
- Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), joined by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), blocked a renewed bipartisan push in the Senate Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent, halting an effort that aimed to end the twice-yearly clock changes.
- 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.
- "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.
- He 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."
- He has argued that changing the time can be dangerous, especially when "you have high and dangerous steeples to reach, like on churches and municipal buildings."
- 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."
- Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said that it’s his understanding that the House bill is a “non-starter” for Senate Republican leaders.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., hasn’t weighed in publicly on the House bill, but he has voted against similar versions in the past.
- 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.
- “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.
What's still developing
- The extra hour doesn’t necessarily mean more revelry on Halloween night: While some jurisdictions allow bars to serve last call according to Sunday’s updated time, California rules say bars must stop serving alcohol two hours past midnight, regardless of 1 a.m.’s repeat.
- Depending on who you ask, it’s either the welcome return of before-work sunshine, or the start of a dreary slog through 4:30 pm sunsets. (The good news, though, is that however you feel about falling back, it’s not nearly as hard on the body as springing forward will be in March, when we return to daylight saving time.) It’s also a topic that draws strong opinions, including in the pages of Vox (which has both pointed out the awfulness of daylight saving time and argued that it should go on forever ).
- Why has it been so hard to get people into permanent housing?
- By Wednesday morning, would-be presidential candidates will be booking trips to early-primary states, and newly elected House members will be back on call time, raising money for 2028.
- The debate over daylight saving time has taken on a new dimension in recent years, with lawmakers in Washington and state capitals weighing whether to keep the current system, adopt permanent daylight saving time, or stick with standard time year-round.
- For example, in Boston on Saturday, before the time change, the sun rose at 7:16 a.m. and set at 5:39 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.