Trump and Senator Tom Cotton Spar Over Making Daylight Saving Time Permanent

President Trump and Republican Senator Tom Cotton exchanged public criticism over whether to make daylight saving time permanent, according to a report from Anadolu Agency.

Trump urged voters in Arkansas to pressure Cotton to back ending the twice-yearly clock change, pushing for a permanent shift to daylight saving time. Cotton, in response, warned that locking in daylight saving time would result in darker winter mornings for his state's residents.

A long-running debate

The disagreement over daylight saving time reflects a debate that has persisted in Congress for years, with lawmakers divided over whether to end the practice of changing clocks twice a year, and if so, whether to settle permanently on standard time or daylight saving time.

Supporters of permanent daylight saving time have argued it would allow for more evening daylight, while opponents such as Cotton have pointed to the later sunrises that would result in winter months, particularly for states farther from the equator or on the western edge of their time zone.

The report did not specify whether the exchange was expected to influence pending legislation on the issue.

Neither Trump's office nor Cotton's office was quoted directly in the available report beyond the characterizations of their public remarks.