{"id":4760,"date":"2026-11-06T14:04:35","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T14:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/checkthenews.store\/?p=4760"},"modified":"2026-11-06T14:04:35","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T14:04:35","slug":"%f0%9f%9a%a8senate-republicans-reject-trump-push-to-end-us-clock-switching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/checkthenews.store\/?p=4760","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udea8Senate Republicans Reject Trump Push To End US Clock Switching\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

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President Donald Trump\u2019s push to end America\u2019s twice-yearly clock changes has slammed into resistance from fellow Republicans in the Senate.<\/p>\n

The House overwhelmingly passed the Sunshine Protection Act in July, but senators left Washington without bringing the legislation to a vote.<\/p>\n

The bipartisan House vote was 308\u2013117, delivering supporters a major victory after years of unsuccessful attempts to permanently change federal law.<\/p>\n

The legislation would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide while preserving options for states choosing to remain permanently on standard time.<\/p>\n

Trump has repeatedly demanded action, arguing Americans are tired of changing clocks and would benefit from additional afternoon and evening sunlight.<\/p>\n

The president renewed that pressure Friday as senators departed Washington ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.<\/p>\n

Trump said changing clocks twice annually \u201ccosts our country a fortune\u201d while criticizing its effects on everyday American life.<\/p>\n

He said the practice \u201cis bad for crime, stress on people, sports, and just about everything else you can imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite Trump\u2019s pressure, the Senate completed its pre-election work without scheduling a vote on the House-passed legislation.<\/p>\n

Senators are not expected back for votes until after Election Day, meaning the immediate effort has effectively reached a legislative dead end.<\/p>\n

Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy offered perhaps the clearest assessment of the bill\u2019s prospects before lawmakers departed Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s dead as disco,\u201d Kennedy told Reuters while discussing the proposal to establish permanent daylight saving time.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sense is it would have trouble passing \u2026 I don\u2019t think the leader is going to bring it up,\u201d Kennedy added.<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune had already expressed doubts in July about whether supporters could assemble the 60 votes needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at it. You know the House had a big vote,\u201d Thune said when discussing the legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of interest in it from members on our side over here. Some for, some against,\u201d Thune continued.<\/p>\n

Asked whether he personally supported permanent daylight saving time, the South Dakota Republican pointed toward his northern-state experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m from a northern clime. I voted against it in committee,\u201d Thune said.<\/p>\n

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott, however, remains optimistic and told Reuters he believes lawmakers can eventually approve the legislation.<\/p>\n

Scott has been one of the leading congressional advocates for ending the country\u2019s longstanding ritual of changing clocks every spring and fall.<\/p>\n

Supporters argue permanent daylight saving time could reduce sleep disruptions, workplace injuries and traffic accidents associated with seasonal clock changes.<\/p>\n

They also contend additional evening sunlight during winter could encourage shopping, recreation and other economic activity after normal working hours.<\/p>\n

Opponents focus heavily on darker winter mornings, particularly for schoolchildren, commuters, farmers and construction workers beginning their days early.<\/p>\n

Under permanent daylight saving time, sunrise could occur near 9 a.m. or later in some communities during winter.<\/p>\n

That possibility has helped divide Republicans despite Trump\u2019s campaign to present the issue as common-sense reform with broad bipartisan appeal.<\/p>\n

Under current federal law, daylight saving time begins on March\u2019s second Sunday and concludes on November\u2019s first Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Department of Transportation oversees uniform daylight saving observance but cannot independently abolish or permanently extend the system.<\/p>\n

States can currently exempt themselves from daylight saving time and remain on standard time, but cannot independently adopt permanent daylight saving time.<\/p>\n

Arizona and Hawaii generally do not observe daylight saving time, alongside several American territories.<\/p>\n

Most Americans therefore still move clocks forward during spring and turn them backward again during fall.<\/p>\n

This year, standard time returns November 1, two days before voters head to polls for the midterm elections.<\/p>\n

That means Americans will again \u201cfall back\u201d one hour despite Trump\u2019s repeated demands that Congress finally end the clock-changing tradition.<\/p>\n

If ultimately enacted, the House legislation would prevent clocks from returning to standard time beginning in 2027.<\/p>\n

States currently exempt from daylight saving time could continue their arrangements under the legislation.<\/p>\n

States could also choose permanent standard time before the federal change takes effect, according to the House-passed measure.<\/p>\n

America has experimented with permanent daylight saving time before, including during World War II and again during the 1970s energy crisis.<\/p>\n

Congress enacted year-round daylight saving time in 1974 as officials searched for ways to reduce energy consumption.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump\u2019s push to end America\u2019s twice-yearly clock changes has slammed into resistance from fellow Republicans in the Senate. The House overwhelmingly passed the Sunshine Protection Act in July, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/checkthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/checkthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/checkthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/checkthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/checkthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/checkthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4762,"href":"https:\/\/checkthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760\/revisions\/4762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/checkthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/checkthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/checkthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/checkthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}