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President Trump blasted senators for not passing a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent – joking that the exercise of changing the clocks makes him late.
The commander-in-chief told supporters in Corinth, Mississippi, on Monday that the twice-yearly ritual is “stupid” and claimed “many many Americans are very disappointed” by stalling politicians.
“The House has already passed a bill five times to make daylight saving permanent. The Senate needs to take a vote,” Trump railed before recalling the moment he was late for a meeting.
“I’m always late. I had a big meeting and I was an hour late.”
Trump then claimed “everyone hates” the ritual and called on the Senate to “vote [clock-changing] out” and “go back to one time.”
“No more changing the clock,” he said.
Trump claimed the Sunshine Protection Act “remains locked” in the Senate – even though it was passed by the House on a 308-117 margin.
“Daylight saving time will end as scheduled to the disappointment of many, many Americans,” Trump lamented.
Trump is a prominent critic of clock-changing and on Sunday blasted the Senate for “letting the Daylight Saving Bill die.”
He has previously accused Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton of holding up the bill – ramping up pressure on lawmakers to pass it.
Daylight saving time will end on the morning of Nov. 1 – much to the frustration of the president.
Permanent daylight saving time would mean more sun in the afternoon and evening hours.
But despite the president’s pressure, Cotton (R-Ark.) is not relenting – having vowed to “always oppose” the reform.
“For many Arkansans, permanent Daylight Savings Time would mean the sun wouldn’t rise until after 8:00 or even 8:30 a.m. during the dead of winter. Three months out of the year, kids in towns like Bentonville, Fayetteville, and Fort Smith would start school ahead of the sun,” Cotton said.
“Meanwhile, construction workers, farmers, and others who rise before the sun or need the sun to work would be penalized.
“These workers might go three, four, even five hours in the morning without seeing the sun, which would hurt their quality of life and potentially their safety in the workplace.”
Cotton allowed that “clock changes can be bad for health, but the best evidence suggests that the natural rhythms of our internal body clocks align more closely with Standard Time than Daylight Savings Time.”
Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.) has also warned that lawmakers in the western US could push back.
“I can see where Florida likes it for tee times at certain times of the year, but it doesn’t work so well for moms and dads putting kids on buses when the sunrise in Western Montana wouldn’t be until 9:30 in the morning. It’s not going to work for us,” he told CNN in July.
He joked the bill wouldn’t “see the light of day.”