Trump urges Arkansans to call Tom Cotton over permanent daylight saving time

Trump’s target in the Senate

Trump accused Cotton of stopping the bill and urged people in Arkansas to tell him to get it done. Cotton, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, publicly restated his opposition. The president’s appeal singled out one senator, but it did not establish that Cotton alone has prevented a vote or that his support would be enough to pass the measure.

Other Senate Republicans also oppose the proposal, and it faces broader roadblocks in that chamber. A senator can become the focus of a campaign without being the only lawmaker whose position determines whether a bill advances. The House vote did not make permanent daylight saving time law.

Cotton and Trump do agree on one frustration: Neither likes changing clocks twice a year. Their disagreement is over what should replace that system. Trump wants the hour-ahead schedule kept year-round. Cotton says doing so would put winter sunrises too late for children heading to school.

What the bill would change

In most of the United States, clocks run one hour ahead of standard time from spring to fall, then return to standard time. The Sunshine Protection Act would make daylight saving time permanent, ending those seasonal changes in states that followed the new rule. The bill would allow states to opt out if their legislatures acted before enactment.

Permanent daylight saving time would not add an hour of sunlight to the day. It would keep the clock an hour ahead during winter, placing sunrise and sunset later by the clock. That is the practical trade-off behind the dispute: more light in the evening and less in the morning than under winter standard time.

For people who work or spend time outside later in the day, the evening light is the attraction. For children traveling to school, and for adults commuting early, a later winter sunrise is the concern. Ending clock changes would be a noticeable difference, but it would not resolve the question of which hours most need daylight.

The argument over winter mornings

The White House and other supporters say permanent daylight saving time would put more light into hours when people are active. Trump has also argued that it would give professional golfers more time on golf courses. Those are arguments for shifting daylight toward evening, not evidence that the proposal would increase total daylight.

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said in a social media post reported by PBS News: “Arkansans don't want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I'll always put Arkansas first.” Other opponents have raised concerns about children waiting for school buses and parents driving to work on darker winter mornings.

There is evidence of dissatisfaction with the existing system, but that does not settle which alternative people want. In a 2025 AP-NORC poll, 12% of U.S. adults favored changing clocks twice a year, 47% opposed it and 40% were neutral. Those figures measure views of the current practice, not support for this bill or for permanent daylight saving time.

The decision still ahead

Congress has moved toward permanent daylight saving time before without making it law. The Senate passed a bill in 2022, but that measure stalled in the House. This time the House has acted, while the Senate has not passed the proposal.

Cotton has made clear where he stands, and Trump is asking Arkansans to try to change his mind. Neither development changes the clocks. Whether the Senate takes up the House-passed bill remains the next decision that could move the proposal toward law.