Trump supports making daylight saving time "permanent"
A growing number of state and federal lawmakers say it's time to rethink daylight saving time. Now the president seems to agree.
President Trump said Monday that he would be "O.K." with extending daylight saving time to be year-round, becoming the most prominent politician yet to support opting out of the biannual clock-changing ritual. "Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me!" Trump tweeted, one day after the clocks moved forward an hour for the spring.
In the U.S., clocks are moved ahead by one hour in March for daylight saving time, depriving us of one hour of sleep, and then go back an hour in November, giving us an extra hour's sleep. The tradition dates to World War I, when it was intended to save on energy costs and supplies, and it has been a federal standard for more than 50 years.
But recently, some lawmakers have advocated for turning back the clock on the tradition. Hawaii and most of Arizona already opt of daylight saving time, and several states — including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin — are considering doing the same. Voters in California last year passed a ballot proposition to make daylight saving time permanent.
This change would keep clocks moved up an hour all year, rather than having to go forward and back. It would also mean there is more sunlight time during the evening in winter.
In Congress, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, has twice proposed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide. He filed it again last week, with fellow Florida Sen. Rick Scott co-signing. Two Florida Republicans in the House filed a similar bill.
Rubio tweeted in response to Mr. Trump on Monday, "I re-filed my bill from last congress along with @SenRickScott to do just that. Hopefully we can pass it in Congress & get it to your desk soon."
