BURSTA Republican brouhaha is emerging after President-elect Trump called to eliminate daylight saving time, setting up battle lines between prominent GOP lawmakers in their hopes to lock the clock.
Trump waded into the longtime sore subject Friday, surprising — and perplexing — some lawmakers.
Each side — those in favor of permanent standard time, which means having more light earlier in the day, versus those who want year-round daylight saving time and more light in the evenings — insists that Trump is in their camp.
“I’m confused,” said Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), a major proponent of the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent but allow states to opt in to standard time. “I think he just doesn’t want the clocks to go back and forth.”
Trump pledged on social media Friday that “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t,” adding that daylight saving time is “inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.”
Daylight saving time is observed for the bulk of the year, from March to November.
Steube said he has not been able to talk to Trump but noted past instances in which he voiced support for making daylight saving time, not standard time, the year-round standard.
“I would imagine he supports Florida’s position,” Steube said of Trump.
Florida in 2018 adopted legislation for year-round daylight saving time, which means the sun rises later in the morning and daylight lasts longer in the evening. But congressional approval is required to allow Florida to observe daylight saving time year-round. The Uniform Time Act only allows states to opt out of observing daylight saving time, which is how Arizona is able to stay on standard time year-round.
But several GOP lawmakers who support permanent standard time interpreted Trump’s post as endorsing their position.
“The only sensible and durable way to stop the biannual time change is to make Standard Time permanent. I will work on this issue with @realDonaldTrump,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said Friday in a post on social platform X in response to Trump.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who opposes permanent daylight saving time, recalled fierce public opposition and safety concerns that emerged when it was briefly tried in the 1970s.
“In some states when we went on permanent daylight saving time, it became a safety issue and a very serious one. Basically, it required people who get up and go to work in the morning to do so in pitch darkness for quite a bit of the year,” Wicker said. “The reason you fall back is the further northern states greatly object to it.”
Spokespeople for Trump did not respond to a request for clarification on his position.
The idea of halting clock changes was pushed earlier this month by "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) chiefs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who declared the practice “annoying” and “inefficient.” But they didn’t fully articulate which version of clocks they would prefer.
The debate is so intense that one Republican asked about stopping the clock switches requested anonymity to speak candidly, pointing out the tension between two seasonal sporting industries favored by the wealthy and politicians: the ski and golf industries.
“The best thing about golf is long summer nights. You will golf less if we get rid of daylight savings. So if you're going to choose one, you would choose daylight savings, not get rid of daylight savings,” the GOP member said. “But then that won't work well with the ski industry. They like to start earlier.”
“So how do you reconcile that? You just keep it as is,” the Republican said.
There is also tension between health and commerce interests. The National Association of Convenience Stores in 2022 said it supported a move to year-round daylight saving time, saying that “the extra hour of daylight is a boost for business.” But 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.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has been among the foremost proponents of locking the clock at daylight saving time, leading the Sunshine Protection Act in the Senate for years. His push went so far that he was able to surprisingly pass it via a unanimous consent request almost three years ago, catching leaders on both sides of the aisle napping in the process.
Wicker had lodged an objection to it, but he determined at the time that it wasn’t worth the effort as it wasn’t going to pass. The House never took up the legislation.
“The changeover has a depressing effect on people,” Wicker said. “I don’t like that. It’s hard on children. But the solution is not to go to permanent daylight saving time.”
Trump’s comments also have seemingly confused some lawmakers who thought he was on their side. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the incoming chair of the Commerce Committee, reposted Trump’s social media remarks on Friday saying, “we’re going to make this an early priority!”
The Texas Republican indicated on Tuesday he is in favor of permanent daylight saving time — and thought Trump was too.
“I wasn’t aware there was a difference in his position,” Cruz said.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who signed the 2018 year-round daylight saving legislation into law while governor of Florida, also said he is “not sure” where Trump lands.
Other senators have indicated they are simply in favor of picking either standard or daylight saving time — and that it doesn’t matter which one.
“I’m indifferent which way we go, but I think we should just pick a time zone and keep it,” Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) said. “It’s been talked about in Nebraska for over a decade. It creates problems for our farmers and our ranchers. … Animals get used to routines just like people do, and when you start changing things up, it just puts more stress on the animals.”
Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), the incoming chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said 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,” Guthrie said.
For some Republicans hoping to see Trump usher through massive changes in Washington next year, the time being observed is not on their list of priorities.
Others simply do not care. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said as much and laughed openly when asked about the subject, adding that the only thing he hopes is that it doesn’t suddenly become an intraparty political football.
“I hope that doesn’t become a proxy for what a good conservative is,” he said.