The sun may be finally setting on daylight saving time in America.
President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to get rid of the practice of springing forward and falling back, and expects Republicans in Congress to try and make that happen.
"The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn't!" Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social last week. "Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our nation."
Trump's allies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who have been picked by the president-elect to head a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), shared their support for locking the clock.
"Looks like the people want to abolish the annoying time changes," Musk posted last month on X (formerly Twitter).
Standard time means having more light earlier in the day, while daylight saving time means more light in the evenings year-round.
Republican U.S. Sen. John Barrasso told Cowboy State Daily this week he frequently hears about the issue from his Wyoming constituents. He indicated that he may prefer switching to standard time.
“While it would certainly be easier to not have to change our clocks, there are some real concerns with sending our kids to school in the dark,” Barrasso said. “Congress must thoroughly debate all of the potential impacts before taking any action to change daylight saving time on the national level.”
U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis agrees with putting a stop to changing clocks twice a year, but prefers permanent daylight saving time.
“Thanks to technological advancements, biannual time changes are antiquated and more of a headache for parents and school children than an advantage for our agriculture industry,” she said. “It is time to end this unnecessary disruption and make the option of daylight saving time permanent.”
Current Reality
On Nov. 3, daylight saving time came to an end this year, setting clocks back an hour and putting the U.S. in standard time. This time change leads to early December sunsets and skews Americans' perception of what time of the day it really is.
Daylight saving time is set to resume March 5.
Wyoming and at least 18 other states have passed legislation calling for making daylight saving time permanent — but only if federal law allows it. Federal regulations prevent states from adopting permanent daylight saving time on their own.
The Uniform Time Act only allows states to opt out of observing daylight saving time, which is how Arizona and Hawaii are able to stay on standard time year-round.
The use of daylight saving time has been in place for most of America since 1966. It was engaged year-round during World War II and 1973-1974 to reduce energy use.
Pros And Cons
That there are many pros and cons of switching to either time mechanism is likely the biggest reason why the status quo has lasted for so long.
The length of time daylight saving time leads to many adults and school children going to work or school in the dark for a significant part of the year is why many northern states, which have much less sunlight in the winter, oppose this proposal.
The National Association of Convenience Stores said in 2022 it supported a move to year-round daylight saving time, calling “the extra hour of daylight … a boost for business.”
A significant amount of scientific research shows the time change is harmful to people’s sleep and mental health. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has called for a switch to permanent standard time, saying in 2020 that darkness in the morning and more light in the evening results in “disrupting the body’s natural rhythm.”
Various recreation industries have their preferences too.
Golfers love daylight saving time for longer summer nights. The ski industry prefers standard time as most close for the day at 4 p.m. before it’s dark out anyway.
In 2022, the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill proposed by former Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, was unanimously approved by the Senate to make daylight saving time permanent, but the House did not vote on it. Lummis was a co-sponsor of the 2023 version of this bill.
No progress has been made on the issue since.
U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman did not respond to Cowboy State Daily’s request for comment about how she would vote on this issue.
It’s not exactly clear whether most Americans would prefer daylight or standard time, but polling shows it’s clear they want to get rid of the time change.
A 2021 Associated Press poll showed that more people prefer permanent standard time over the status quo. A 2022 Monmouth University poll showed that 61% of Americans favor getting rid of the twice-annual clock changes, 44% of Americans prefer making daylight saving time permanent, and only 13% want to operate on standard time all year.
Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Kentucky, incoming chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told The Hill he has heard a lot about the clock change debate from colleagues, mostly from the side that wants light later in the day year-round.
“Certainly, we’ll have a hearing,” he said.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
