The elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated on Friday that the Republican Party “will make its best efforts” to end the practice of changing the clocks, which he called “inappropriate and too costly for the country.”
The practice, which aims to make better use of daylight hours and save energy—by moving the clocks forward one hour in the summer months to make the most of the evening light—has been in place across most of the United States since the 1960s. However, this issue has been a topic of debate in recent years.
Some lawmakers want to keep the local time throughout the year without any changes, while others propose year-round daylight saving time, and some prefer to maintain the status quo. President Joe Biden has never publicly taken a stance on this issue.
In March 2022, the U.S. Senate unanimously voted to make daylight saving time permanent, but the effort stalled in the House of Representatives due to a lack of consensus on the matter.
In March, a bipartisan group of senators made another attempt in this direction.
Supporters of daylight saving time argue that it brings more daylight in the afternoon and boosts economic activity during the winter months. Critics, however, say it forces children to go to school in the dark, as sunrise is delayed by one hour.
Advocates for the complete elimination of daylight saving time argue that the biannual time change causes sleep disturbances and health problems.
Congress has not held any new hearings on this issue for over two years, and the Senate will need to revisit the matter.
The time change was used during World War II and was reintroduced in 1973 in an effort to reduce energy consumption during the oil embargo, but the decision was unpopular and was repealed the following year.
Since 2015, around 30 states have introduced or passed laws to end the biannual time change. Some states have proposed doing so only if neighboring states follow suit.
