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(by Alexandra Marquez, NBC News) – President-elect Donald Trump on Friday said he and Republicans would seek to permanently eliminate daylight saving time when he takes office.
In a post on TruthSocial, Trump wrote: “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.”
Two of Trump’s top advisers, tech mogul Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, whom the president-elect has tapped to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, have also floated the idea of eliminating time changes.
“Looks like the people want to abolish the annoying time changes!” Musk wrote on X last month.
Ramaswamy replied to him, writing, “It’s inefficient & easy to change.”
Donald Trump Jr., the president-elect’s son, also replied to Musk’s post but seemed to share an opposite position from his father’s.
“Leave it daylight savings time always,” Trump Jr. wrote, adding in several emojis of the number “100,” signifying his agreement with Musk.
The younger Trump’s position is consistent with a bill the Senate passed in 2022 that would have made daylight saving time permanent beginning the following year.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., backed the proposal again in 2023 after it stalled in the House. … [Named the Sunshine Protection Act, the bill would eliminate the time change that happens twice a year in March and November, to make daylight saving time the new standard time for any states that participate in the time change.]
The 2022 bill was co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of senators, including Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., Rick Scott, R-Fla., Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Ed Markey, D-Mass.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to questions from NBC News clarifying whether Trump seeks to eliminate daylight saving time or make it permanent.
Published at NBC News on Dec. 13, 2024. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.
Questions
Read the following and answer the questions below:
The majority/most/all? Americans do not want to change their clocks twice a year – they either want to go back to Standard time year round, OR Daylight saving time year round.
- The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine say ending time changes and staying on standard time would benefit our health because it better matches the sun and human biology.
- SaveStandardTime wrote: Sleepy drivers make morning darkness more dangerous. …Permanent Standard Time is best for sleep, mood, health, education and safety.
- Oklahoma State Senator Blake Cowboy Stevens argues permanent DST would save money, make workers and students more productive, and better health and lifestyle.
- Arguments in favor of year-round daylight saving time include: increased evening daylight hours for outdoor activities, potential energy savings, reduced traffic accidents due to better visibility, improved safety with more daylight during typical commuting hours, potential economic benefits from increased evening activity [and shopping which helps the retail industry], and the elimination of the disruption caused by switching clocks twice a year, which can negatively impact sleep patterns. (from a Google AI overview, experimental AI)
Some comments on X:
“I don’t want kids standing along the highway I take to work in the dark. Even elementary school age kids stand out there alone waiting for the bus because houses are 1/4 mile or more off the road here.”
“Make it permanent Standard Time. ..that way there is still some ‘evening’ to enjoy after the hot sun went down in Arizona.”
“Standard time. Morning sun. Wakes you up, better for kiddos going to school, and summer evening where the sun goes down before 9pm.”
“Daylight Savings – I love sailing and during the summer sailing until 8pm is glorious.”
“DST all year. Sun is out longer in the evenings. Love it not getting dark until 9pm in peak summer.”
“Standard! The way God intended, following the sun. It’s awful having to get up when it’s pitch black outside during daylight savings time. Standard time is the way nature and God intended.”
“I vote for Daylight Saving Time. At the end of the day when I’m leaving work, it’s really nice to have some daylight for personal time. Keeps up the spirit and energy to do more stuff with family. Coming home in darkness has the opposite effect. [But] I’ll take whichever time we go with as long as we stop doing it. Stop the insanity! Please!”
“In France we are at +1 in winter and +2 in summer. We are the country that consumes the most antidepressants in the world. People are stressed and angry all the time. The suicide rate is high. The educational level is poor. This system is adapted to the unemployed who get up late – but for workers who get up early it is an ordeal. A return to a natural cycle would do us all the greatest good.”
1. Should the U.S. keep the same time year round (stop changing the clocks twice a year)? Explain your answer.
2. If the U.S. ends changing the clocks twice a year, should it be permanent Daylight Saving Time or permanent Standard time? Explain your answer.
3. Ask a parent #1 and #2.
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