Trump wants permanent daylight saving time. Senate Republicans may not.
WASHINGTON – Time may be running out for a bill that would stop changing clocks.
President Donald Trump He has advocated for years to make daylight saving time permanent, ending the twice-annual practice that forced people in much of the country to lose an hour in the spring and regain it in the fall.
He called the decades-old ritual of resetting clocks a disturbing nuisance and praised the House of Representatives. Passing a bipartisan bill last week preventing most of the country from doing so.
But it could stall in the Senate, where lawmakers are largely divided on geographic rather than partisan views on whether such a change makes sense.
With midterm elections just months away, the issue is causing a unique divide between elements of both parties. The debate is drawing heated reactions from lawmakers and voters on opposing sides; This shows how closely the change will affect Americans if it becomes law.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, told reporters last week that it was unclear whether the final bill would get the 60 votes needed to pass. He has personally voted against stopping the time change in the past.
“Members on our side have a lot of interest in this,” Thune said. “Some support it, some oppose it.”
Critics in the Senate GOP, including Sen. They, including Tom Cotton, did little to hide their disapproval of the cancellation of standard time when the sun set an hour early. Arkansas’ other Republican senator, John Boozman, said he shared his colleague’s view.
Senator John Boozman (R-AR) speaks at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on July 21, 2026.
“It’s hard to get things done when you have positions that divide everyone,” he told USA TODAY. “The easiest thing to do is leave them alone.”
Dark school bus causes major concern
Congress passed a similar change for energy conservation reasons during the global oil crisis of the 1970s; but reversed the change after it became clear how unpopular permanent daylight saving was for most Americans.
Advocates of the new move, driven by Florida lawmakers, say: point to evidence that suggests He says losing an hour each spring causes Americans to lose sleep, negatively impacts their health and negatively impacts the performance of students and athletes. Rep. Vern Buchanan, who passed the bill called the Sunshine Protection Act, said small businesses are also struggling.
Representative Vern Buchanan (left), Republican of Florida, speaks as President Trump makes an announcement from the Oval Office on December 3, 2025.
“Those extra hours a day make a huge difference in terms of doing business, at least in Florida but across the country,” he told the House of Representatives.
But opponents said making daylight saving time permanent could hurt businesses by forcing Americans in some parts of the country to go to work before sunrise. For example, construction workers may face safety hazards.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, said parents may not want their children to ride the school bus without sunlight. He wasn’t sure the Sunshine Protection Act would even make it to a Senate vote.
“My best guess is that they don’t have the votes to pass the legislation,” he told USA TODAY. “The impact overall is kids going to school, walking to the bus in the dark.”
Sen. Jerry Moran is photographed after speaking at a memorial service for Kansas law enforcement at the statehouse on May 1, 2026.
Others reserve the right to decide until the Senate seriously debates the legislation. Sen. John Hoeven, R-North Dakota, told USA TODAY he thinks the bill “has a chance of passing.”
“I have a clear idea about this,” he said.
Even if Thune decides to bring the legislation to the floor, time is running out in the 119th Congress. The midterms are just over three months away, and the Senate will be largely out of session for two of those months. Meanwhile, there are arguably more pressing priorities ahead of late-September deadlines, including preventing another government shutdown and reauthorizing the farm bill.
This compressed timeline, along with bipartisan opposition, could mean the end of the Sunshine Protection Act before it progresses any further in Congress. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, in a recent forecast CNN interview: “To use a pun, I don’t think it will ever see the light of day.”
Zachary Schermele is USA TODAY’s congressional correspondent. You can reach him via email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him at @ZachSchermele on X and @zachschermele.bsky.social on Bluesky.
This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Trump wants permanent daylight saving time. Senate Republicans may not do that.
