Donald Trump’s push to make daylight saving time permanent in the United States has run into a Senate roadblock, with Republican senator Tom Cotton vowing to oppose the legislation over fears that children in Arkansas would be forced to travel to school in darkness during winter.
The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House of Representatives in July by 308 votes to 117, but it has no clear route through the Senate. Senators are not expected to return to Washington until after the November midterm elections, leaving the proposal stalled for now.
Trump escalated the dispute on Saturday, October 3, by publishing Cotton’s personal mobile telephone number on Truth Social and urging people in Arkansas to pressure him into supporting the bill. The president said almost everybody wanted the measure to pass, apart from the Arkansas senator.
“To the Great People of Arkansas, please let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America, itself,” Trump wrote.
The president has repeatedly criticised the twice-yearly clock change, arguing that it is disruptive and deprives people of useful evening daylight. He has also highlighted the benefits for outdoor activities, including golf, tennis and farming.
Cotton, a senior Republican and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, rejected the appeal. He said Congress had previously introduced permanent daylight saving time, only to repeal it after Americans experienced excessively late sunrises in winter.
“Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first,” Cotton said in a post on X.
Why the Sunshine Protection Act is controversial
The bill would end the annual practice of moving clocks forward in spring and back in autumn by keeping most of the country on daylight saving time throughout the year. States would be allowed to opt out and remain on standard time permanently.
Supporters, including the White House, say the change would provide more daylight during the hours when people are awake and active. Business and tourism groups have argued that later winter sunsets would encourage outdoor recreation and benefit industries such as golf.
Opponents say the extra evening light would come at the cost of darker mornings, particularly in northern states and areas on the western side of time zones. They warn that children waiting for school buses and adults commuting to work could be travelling before sunrise.
Cotton has cited the experience of 1974, when the US briefly adopted year-round daylight saving time during an energy crisis. The policy was abandoned before the end of the year after widespread complaints about dark winter mornings.
Medical organisations, including the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have also opposed permanent daylight saving time, arguing that year-round standard time is more closely aligned with the body’s natural sleep rhythms.
The United States Senate approved an earlier version of the legislation in 2022, but it failed to progress in the House. The latest measure now faces resistance from Cotton and other Republicans, making a vote before the end of the congressional session increasingly unlikely.
