The Senate is unlikely to act before the end of the year on a House-passed bill that would make daylight saving time permanent, according to the Associated Press. Several senators are holding up the legislation, even as President Donald Trump keeps pressing for a vote.
Daylight saving time ends early Sunday, when much of the country turns the clocks back an hour. Supporters of the bill say ending the twice-yearly change would give Americans more afternoon daylight, when people are most active. Opponents say commuters in some states would not see the sun until after 9 a.m.
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a member of Republican leadership, is the most vocal opponent. He said: “No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter.” Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota put the objection more bluntly: “You’d be sending kids to school in the dark.”
Trump has pushed the change repeatedly. He renewed his call this week in a social media post, writing that the Senate is letting the daylight saving bill die when a vast majority of the country wants it. Earlier this month he posted Cotton’s personal cellphone number online and told him to “GET IT DONE!”
The pressure has not moved many votes. Several Republicans predicted in recent weeks that the bill will not come up for a vote in the short time left when the Senate returns to Washington after the November 3 midterm election. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has not weighed in publicly on the measure.
Source: Associated Press
