Trump Presses Senate to Pass Sunshine Protection Act After House Vote

Trump announces the House passed a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent and urges Republican senators to release their holds for final approval.

First Published: August 4, 2026, 2:41 PM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump said the House of Representatives passed legislation to make Daylight Saving Time permanent and urged the Senate to give it final approval.

The measure, known as the Sunshine Protection Act, would end the twice-yearly clock change and lock the country into later evening daylight, according to the announcement he posted on truthsocial. Trump framed the shift as a rare cause with support across party lines.

“People are sick and tired of having to change their clocks twice a year,” Trump said in the post. “LET’S PASS the Sunshine Protection Act,ASAP.”

Ending the biannual change would touch the daily routine of nearly every American, from school pickups to evening commutes. Trump cast the bill as a health, safety and economic fix that a stranger with no stake in Washington politics would still feel at home.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “For many years, the vast Majority of Americans have asked to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, but no Administration has been able to get it done, until now. I am proud to announce that the House of Representatives has passed the Bill, and it has now gone to the Senate for final approval. People are sick and tired of having to change their clocks twice a year. It is foolish, inconvenient and, in some cases, very costly. For Cities and States with Watchtowers, and hard to reach places, it costs Millions of Dollars. A recent case was made that it is also bad for your health in the anxiety it creates.Leading Medical, Crime, and Economic Studies have shown that ceasing the biannual time change, giving us one extra hour of natural sunlight in the evenings, will help Decrease Robbery and Murder Rates, Reduce Car Accidents (especially those involving Pedestrians!),Lower Risk for Cardiac Issues, Stroke, and Seasonal Depression, Make It Safer for Children to Walk Home from School, Increase Time with your Family, Strongly Support Extracurricular Activities,Boost the Sports, Fitness, Tourism, Retail, and Restaurant Industries(and more!), and Save Money on Energy B Plc, because everyone will be enjoying an EXTRA HOUR OF DAYLIGHT. In other words, leave it as it is now, and never change again. This is an issue that Republicans, Democrats, and Independents can unite behind. I am asking Republican Senators to release their holds, and allow the hotline to clear on the Republican side. LET’S PASS the Sunshine Protection Act,ASAP. Thank you for your attention to this matter! Trump” on August 4, 2026 at 6:30 PM ET.

This is Trump’s 22nd message released today, and the last post was 1 minute ago, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 50 of his 444 posts over the last 30 days classified as Domestic Policy posts.

The stakes cut across House holds, states and whole industries. Trump argued the change would boost tourism, retail, restaurants and youth sports while trimming Energy B Plc.Groups tied to evening commerce and outdoor recreation stand to gain the most. Sleep and safety researchers have long divided over whether permanent daylight time or permanent standard time better protects morning travelers.

The fight over the clock is not new in Washington. Congress made Daylight Saving Time permanent once before, when a 1973 law took effect in January 1974 in response to an energy crisis. The experiment collapsed within months amid complaints about dark winter mornings, and Congress reversed course in October 1974. The current version of the Sunshine Protection Act cleared the Senate by unanimous consent in March 2022 before stalling in the House, according to congress.gov.

The United States would not be alone in wrestling with the seasonal switch.The European Parliament voted in 2019 to scrap mandatory clock changes across the bloc, though member states have yet to finalize the move, according to europarl.europa.eu. Arizona and Hawaii already skip the change entirely and stay on standard time year-round.

For the average reader, permanent Daylight Saving Time would mean darker winter mornings and brighter winter evenings, with sunrise pushed past 8 a.m. in northern cities during the coldest months. Parents, commuters and shift workers would adjust their schedules once and never reset a clock again.

This has happened before, and the outcome offers a caution. The permanent daylight time of 1974 drew early praise but faded fast once families sent children to school in predawn darkness. Public support dropped sharply within weeks, and lawmakers restored the twice-yearly change before that winter ended.

The Senate now holds the decision. Trump asked Republican senators to release their holds and clear the measure through the hotline process, though the Senate has not announced a date for a final vote.

Congress has tinkered with the nation’s clocks before, and the results have rarely lasted. Lawmakers standardized time zones through the Standard Time Act of 1918, only to see Daylight Saving Time repealed a year later over farmer objections, according to britannica.com. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 set the modern spring-forward and fall-back pattern, and the brief 1974 experiment with permanent daylight time ended so unpopularly that no president since had managed to make it stick.