Trump posts apparent Cotton phone number in daylight saving push

The bill was referred to the Senate Commerce Committee after arriving in the Senate. That status does not establish that Cotton alone is responsible for the lack of action.

What is Trump asking Arkansans to do?

Trump urged people in Arkansas to contact Cotton and press him to support the bill. He has argued that permanent daylight saving time would mean more daylight in the evening and eliminate the twice-yearly clock changes. He also pointed to extra time for golf as a benefit, CBS reported.

Trump has portrayed Cotton as an obstacle to passage, saying one senator could stop the measure. That is Trump’s characterization; the committee referral does not show that Cotton alone has blocked the bill or that the Senate has enough votes to pass it.

A call campaign aimed at one senator is not a measure of public opinion or congressional support. The reporting provides neither a tally of attempted calls nor evidence that the appeal changed Cotton’s position or persuaded other senators.

The current bill follows an earlier effort. The Senate passed a permanent-daylight-saving-time measure in 2022, but it stalled in the House, CBS and PBS reported. That earlier vote did not make the policy law, and the current bill still needs Senate action.

What would permanent daylight saving time change?

The Sunshine Protection Act would keep daylight saving time in effect year-round rather than switching clocks twice a year. It would allow states to opt out if their legislatures act before enactment.

Trump and other proponents, including the White House, emphasize having more daylight during the hours when people are active. Cotton and other opponents focus on winter mornings, arguing that children traveling to school and adults commuting could face darkness. The disagreement is about when daylight falls during the day, and whose schedules are affected.

Cotton has also pointed to earlier congressional efforts to make daylight saving time permanent that were later repealed, CBS reported. His concern about children going to school in darkness highlights a daily consequence that the broader appeal to evening activity does not address.

The available reporting describes those competing concerns but does not provide figures to quantify the safety risks of dark winter travel or the benefits of more evening daylight. It does not establish which group would face the greater effects.

What does the public evidence show?

A 2025 poll cited by PBS and conducted by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 12% favored the current system of changing clocks twice a year, 47% opposed it and 40% were neutral. Those responses describe views on the existing clock-change system; they do not show how many people support the Sunshine Protection Act or permanent daylight saving time specifically.

The bill faces Senate roadblocks, with some Republicans opposed. Until the committee or the full Senate acts, Trump’s appeal remains pressure on Cotton—not evidence of how many Arkansans called, a shift in lawmakers’ positions or votes lined up for passage.