President Donald Trump intensified pressure on fellow Republicans on Monday by publishing a lawmaker’s personal cell phone number while calling for passage of a bill to make daylight saving time permanent. The move came alongside renewed public appeals from the president to end the biannual practice of changing clocks.
What the proposal would do
The legislation Trump is backing would eliminate the twice-yearly switching between standard time and daylight saving time, effectively keeping the country on a single, year-round clock. Supporters of such measures say they would remove the disruptions associated with changing clocks, while opponents have raised questions about how a permanent time change would affect different regions, industries and daily life.
Political implications
By publicizing an individual lawmaker’s contact information, the president signalled a more aggressive effort to marshal Republican lawmakers behind the proposal. The tactic is part of a broader push by the White House to move the issue onto Congress’s agenda and to press GOP colleagues to prioritise the measure.
Legislative path and outlook
Making daylight saving time permanent requires congressional approval. The next steps would involve debate and votes in the House and Senate before a bill could reach the president’s desk. It remains unclear whether Republican leadership and rank-and-file members will coalesce around a single approach given regional differences and competing priorities on the congressional calendar.
A continuing debate
Proposals to end clock switching have surfaced periodically in Washington and sometimes win public support, but they also prompt technical and logistical questions — including how such a change would interact with state decisions and international timekeeping. As the conversation continues, lawmakers will weigh those considerations alongside the political momentum generated by the president’s public campaign.