SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — President-elect Donald Trump suggested that the Republican Party will “eliminate” Daylight Saving Time in a social media post, calling the practice “inconvenient” and “very costly to our Nation.”
Trump is yet another politician to suggest an end to the biannual clock adjustment that some say hurts our circadian rhythms.
But ending the practice of changing the clocks could go one of two ways. Eliminating Daylight Saving Time, like Trump suggested, would make Standard Time permanent, and not everyone agrees that’s what we should stick with.
Here's Trump's Truth Social post from Friday, Dec. 13, in which he made the proposal:
If San Diego were on Standard Time only for 2024, in the summer, the earliest sunrise would have been at 4:37 a.m., and the latest sunset would have been at 6:59 p.m.
If Daylight Saving Time was permanent, in the winter, the latest sunrise would have been at 7:50 a.m., but the earliest sunset would be 5:39 p.m.
It really depends on the person; if you prefer an early rise, Standard Time helps ensure the sun is up when you get up. Switching to Daylight Saving Time for the winter would push the latest sunrise back to almost 8 a.m.
But if you want more light in the evening, permanent Daylight Saving Time would push the sunset on winter nights back an extra hour, so it would stay light out at least until after business hours.
It is clear that there’s growing momentum behind the movement to stop changing the clocks twice a year, even if we can’t all agree on which way to go.
U.S. Senator for Florida Marco Rubio successfully passed the Sunshine Protection Act through the Senate in 2022. That bill would have made Daylight Savings Time, not Standard time, permanent. It stalled in the House of Representatives.
Here in California, nearly 60% of voters approved a ballot measure in 2018 to stay on Daylight Saving Time year-round.
That change, however, needs a two-thirds vote from both houses of the California Legislature, a signature from the governor and approval from Congress.
And Legislation introduced in California this year to make Standard Time permanent never made it out of committee, but that wouldn’t have required congressional approval.
California does actually have another option that would align with Trump's proposal, but with a twist.
The state could petition the Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, for a time zone change.
Making the switch to Mountain Time and then eliminating the practice of jumping forward for Daylight Saving Time would be functionally identical to California making Daylight Saving Time — in the Pacific Time Zone — permanent.
According to the Department of Transportation, this request can come from the governor or the legislature and would not require approval from Congress.
