The Senate Commerce Committee appeared poised Wednesday morning to narrowly advance a bill to make daylight saving time permanent — a sign that lawmakers are coalescing around ending the practice of changing clocks twice a year. But the panel still remains deeply divided over whether to embrace permanent daylight saving time or standard time.
“There are times when you have a hearing on a bill, and you’re trying to move forward with a bill, and you think there’s a clear right answer — this is not one of those times, at least for me,” said committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas). “The testimony we heard at the hearing … persuaded me that we should lock the clock, that the practice of springing forward and falling backward every year doesn’t make sense.”
Cruz went on to vote to advance the legislation from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), which would move to make daylight saving time the default, resulting in more daylight in the evening hours with less in the morning, and bring to a halt biannual clock adjustments. Cruz amended the bill beforehand to allow a two-year window for states to decide whether or not they want to use daylight saving time or standard time permanently.
President Donald Trump earlier this month endorsed daylight saving time following a hearing on the matter.
Ultimately, the 16-12 vote will have to be repeated at a later date when more senators are physically present: too many voted by proxy. The final tally, though, provided an important window into where lawmakers currently stand.
The vote breakdown on either side of the issue did not fall at all neatly along party lines. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas were among the Republicans who voted “no.” So did Democrats including Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota — a member of her party’s leadership team — alongside Sens. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.
Meanwhile, Republicans joining Cruz in voting “yes” included Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Sens. John Curtis of Utah and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming. Democrats supporting moving forward with the bill included ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington, Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts — a longtime advocate of the proposal — and Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii — who is running to be the next Democratic whip.
There are “serious arguments on both sides” on whether to use daylight saving or standard time, Cruz said, citing witness testimony from the panel’s hearing this month about economic benefits for daylight saving time for golf courses and entertainment venues, while doctors argued more morning light with standard time can be better for health.
“Reasonable people can differ,” Cruz said, noting Texas is considering a referendum on the issue that he hopes will occur and making the case that states should have leeway to decide.
Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who opposed the bill Wednesday, proposed but quickly withdrew an amendment that would have renamed the bill the “Make America Rested Again Act” and made permanent standard time the law of the land. Permanent daylight saving time, he argued, would make the sun rise after 9 a.m. in some of parts of his state in the winter months. Young also said there should be more debate and analysis on whether to use permanent standard or daylight time.
“Moving to permanent standard time is widely recognized as the healthiest option for promoting better sleep, alertness and overall well-being,” Young said. “After surveying constituents across Indiana in recent weeks, it’s clear to me there is no single right way to approach the issue of time. Regional differences play an important factor in these decisions.”
The Commerce Committee hearing, followed quickly by Trump’s comments in favor of permanent daylight saving time, have reignited a lobbying battle, with golf and retail interests favoring daylight saving time and sleep doctors and Christian radio broadcasters favoring standard time.
The Senate in 2022 passed legislation to make daylight saving time the status quo by unanimous consent, a move that surprised some senators since the procedure is usually reserved for noncontroversial issues. It died in the House.
