President Donald Trump publicly pressured Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., over the weekend to stop blocking year-round daylight saving time, sharing his personal phone number in a Truth Social post. “Almost everybody wants ‘The Sunshine Protection Act’ to pass, except for Tom Cotton,” Trump wrote, urging Arkansans to press their senator for what he called a bipartisan win. Cotton refused, saying Congress has enacted permanent daylight saving time before and repealed it after winter sunrises arrived absurdly late.
A House bill passed this summer would let states observe daylight saving time year-round and end the twice-yearly clock change, but the measure has stalled in the Senate. Cotton has vowed to block any attempt to fast-track it, and he made the same case at a closed-door Republican lunch with no pushback, a source told Fox News Digital. Lawmakers tried a similar change in the 1970s and repealed it about a year later after parents objected to children waiting for the school bus in the dark.
Support and opposition track geography more than party: Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., back the change, while Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Mike Rounds, R-S.D., warn that sunrise in their states could slip past 9 a.m. Senate floor time is scarce, and the defense bill, war funding, and a government funding fight are expected to take priority after the November midterms. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said the impact “depends where you're living in the country,” so it is not a simple yes-or-no vote.
Support and opposition track geography more than party: Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., back the change, while Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Mike Rounds, R-S.D., warn that sunrise in their states could slip past 9 a.m. Senate floor time is scarce, and the defense bill, war funding, and a government funding fight are expected to take priority after the November midterms. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said the impact “depends where you're living in the country,” so it is not a simple yes-or-no vote.