President-elect Donald Trump announced on Friday that he and the Republican Party intend to push for the complete abolition of daylight saving time once he assumes office.
In a TruthSocial post, Trump declared: “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 prominent figures in Trump’s advisory team, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been chosen to head a newly proposed Department of Government Efficiency, have also voiced support for doing away with time changes.
“Looks like the people want to abolish the annoying time changes!” Musk commented on X last month.
Ramaswamy responded to Musk’s post, stating, “It’s inefficient & easy to change.”
Donald Trump Jr., the president-elect’s son, replied to Musk’s post as well, though he appeared to favor a different approach than his father’s.
“Leave it daylight savings time always,” Trump Jr. posted, accompanied by several “100” emojis to emphasize his agreement with Musk.
The stance taken by Trump Jr. aligns with a Senate bill passed in 2022 that proposed making daylight saving time permanent starting the following year.
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida reintroduced the legislation in 2023 after it stalled in the House. Trump has announced plans to nominate Rubio as his Secretary of State. If Rubio is confirmed, it is unclear who would fill his Senate seat, though Lara Trump, the president-elect’s daughter-in-law, has been mentioned as a possible replacement.
The 2022 bill had bipartisan backing, with co-sponsors including Senators 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 has not yet clarified whether Trump’s plan is to eliminate daylight saving time altogether or to make it permanent, despite inquiries from NBC News.
Daylight saving time was first implemented in the U.S. in 1918 as a measure to conserve energy during World War I. However, certain areas of the country, such as Hawaii and parts of Arizona, have opted out of observing the practice entirely.
{Matzav.com}