The push to make daylight saving time permanent, from the House vote to the Senate

Trump has weighed in since before he took office. He said in December 2024 that Republicans would try to eliminate daylight saving time,^[9] called the question a "50/50" issue in March 2025,^[10] and in April urged Congress to keep the country on daylight saving time.^[11] The bill cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee 48-1 in May 2026, with Trump calling for its passage.^[12][13] The House approved it on July 14 with broad bipartisan support.^[1]

The bill met resistance in the Senate, where one Republican senator warned it would not "see the light of day."^[14] Republican senators from northern states objected that their states would be left in early-morning darkness in winter.^[15] Orthodox Jewish groups said it would push morning prayers past 9 a.m. in some places,^[16] and the airline trade group Airlines for America opposed it unless its start was delayed by up to two years.^[17] Experts said schools and students would suffer, the main reason senators seemed reluctant.^[18] In August, Trump urged Republican senators to "release their holds" and vote as soon as possible,^[2][15] but with the Senate adjourned at the start of October, the bill's future was uncertain.^[3]

Outside Congress, a poll found permanent daylight saving time was the most popular option,^[19] though research suggests permanent standard time would bring more benefits.^[8] In Canada, British Columbia made the change in March, and the Northwest Territories said in September that it would follow.^[20][21] The Associated Press reported in late October that the Senate was unlikely to act before the end of the year.^[22]