Trump and Musk weigh in about daylight savings time
Elon Musk ran a unscientific poll on X that revealed how some feel about a proposed end to daylight saving time.
WASHINGTON – With everything else going on in the world – trade wars, real wars, culture wars – a Senate panel on Thursday delved into one of the most divisive issues of all: whether America should keep daylight saving time.
There were puns galore as Sen. Ted Cruz, the chairman of the Senate Commerce committee, kicked off the hearing. Even its title, “If I Could Turn Back Time: Should We Lock the Clock?” was a reference to that earworm of a Cher song, as the Texas Republican noted.
The hearing examined the various issues around whether the country should continue “springing forward” and “falling back” each year with time. Lately, both Elon Musk and President Donald Trump have weighed in and legislation is pending in Congress to do away with the twice-yearly time change.
Both Cruz and Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, sitting in as the ranking committee Democrat for the day, agreed that something must be done – especially picking daylight saving time or standard time and sticking with it.
Witnesses for the most part agreed, and not just because of the disrupted sleep patterns and annoying clock resets.
Currently, daylight saving time kicks in at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March, when clocks “spring forward” one hour, until 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November, when clocks “fall back” one hour, in areas that do not specifically exempt themselves.
Deciding which to keep proved elusive, as has been the case with congressional deliberations going back years, if not decades.
A ’50-50 issue’ for Trump but strong feelings elsewhere
Trump recently called it a “50/50 issue,” but has said in the past that he wanted to get rid of daylight saving time.
Perhaps Trump, an avid golfer, can get to the links earlier than most other duffers. Because one of the panelists was Jay Karen, chief executive officer of the National Golf Course Owners Association, and he said most golfers want to keep daylight savings time as it is.
Golf relies on ‘recreational daylight,’ or the hours of the day that line up with the sun’s light and people’s general availability to be outside to enjoy recreational activity, Karen testified. And historically, he said, people are far more inclined to go outside and pursue recreation and outdoor activities after dinner than before breakfast.
Also, he said, America is already on daylight saving time for eight months of the year, so getting rid of it “is going to be harder to adjust to.”
There’s also a financial motive, Karen acknowledged: The thousands of golf courses he represents would lose as much as 8% of their revenue if daylight saving time was eliminated.
Productivity vs better sleep health and brain health
Dr. Karin Johnson, a practicing sleep medicine specialist and neurologist at UMASS Chan School of Medicine-Baystate in Massachusetts, urged the committee to support permanent Standard Time, saying it promotes better sleep health and brain health.
“I echo President Trump’s call to end daylight saving time,” Johnson said. She called Permanent Standard Time “the natural, healthy choice offering multiple long-term benefits to physical health, mental health, safety and performance,” especially for children.
During several hours of testimony, Cruz acknowledged the pros and cons of both options – and didn’t reach any clear conclusion.
“I personally struggle with the two choices here, because it’s a question of what do you care about more: sunshine and joy and fun and money, or health, mental health, physical health,” said Cruz. “And the honest answer for most people, gosh, I care about all that stuff.”