President Trump pressured Senator Tom Cotton to support a bill allowing states to observe Daylight Saving Time year-round, which has passed the House but faces opposition in the Senate. Cotton opposes the measure, citing past issues with similar changes that led to early morning darkness for schoolchildren. The debate over the clock change is largely geographic, with coastal states generally supporting permanent Daylight Saving Time while mountainous and western states prefer the status quo.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
President Trump accused Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, of blocking a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent. On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump shared what he claimed was Cotton’s personal cell phone number, urging supporters to call him and push for the passage of the Sunshine Protection Act. The House had already passed this bill in July with a vote of 308-117, but it faces opposition in the Senate where some Republicans, including Cotton, are strongly against it. Trump argues that ending the twice-yearly clock change would provide more daylight during peak hours when people are most active, while opponents like Cotton argue that permanent daylight saving time would lead to darker and potentially hazardous winter mornings for early risers. The Senate is out of session until after the November 3 midterm elections, delaying any potential vote on the bill.
Written for “Daylight Saving Time Feud” on 2026-10-06,
grounded in this article and the 15 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.25, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 59807: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-06
The battle over Americans’ clocks reemerged in an unlikely way over the weekend, with President Donald Trump picking a fight with one of his top allies over the issue.
asserted
Trump → reemerge → issue
There have been many fights in Congress over the nearly two years that Trump has been in office for his second term that either ended in partisan victory or gloriously fizzled out, but one has quietly gone onto the shelf despite his pressure on Republicans to do something about it.
And that fight is over allowing states to voluntarily observe Daylight Saving Time year-round to effectively do away with the twice-a-year ritual of changing clocks.
asserted
states → end → clocks
It’s a popular issue with voters and the president, and there’s a bill that passed the House this summer to enact the change.
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that → ’ → change
But it’s a policy issue that has divided both sides of the aisle and ground to a halt in the upper chamber.
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that → ’ → chamber
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has been one of the more vocal opponents of the bill, vowing to block any attempts to fast-track it on the floor.
asserted
Cotton → vow → floor
That resistance earned him a Truth Social post from Trump, who over the weekend shared his personal phone number in a bid to pressure the lawmaker to change his stance on Daylight Saving Time.
asserted
who → earn → Time
"Almost everybody wants "The Sunshine Protection Act" to pass, except for Tom Cotton," Trump said.
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Trump → want → Cotton
"To the Great People of Arkansas, please let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America, itself."
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it → let → America
Cotton responded, and noted that Congress has tackled Daylight Saving Time before, only to roll back the change shortly after.
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Congress → respond → change
"No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Saving Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter," Cotton said on X. "Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first."
In the 1970s, lawmakers did enact year-round Daylight Saving Time.
asserted
lawmakers → like → Time
But Americans rapidly soured on the change, especially parents whose children had to wait in the dark for the school bus.
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children → sour → bus
It was repealed about a year later.
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It → repeal → ?
And Cotton recently answered an off-the-cuff question from a fellow Republican during their weekly closed-door policy lunches, a source told Fox News Digital, where he made a similar case as his response to Trump.
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he → answer → Trump
No one pushed back during the meeting.
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one → push → meeting
The issue of Daylight Saving Time, and supporting a permanent fix or sticking to the status quo is more geographical than political.
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issue → support → quo
It’s, in part, mountainous and Western states versus coastal states.
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It → ’ → states
On one side of the spectrum are lawmakers like Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., who introduced a Senate version of the bill last year.
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who → introduce → bill
"Every year, more Americans grow more frustrated setting their clocks back and forth, and every winter folks in Washington state despair at the prospect of losing an hour of precious sunlight when we are forced off Daylight Saving Time," Murray said in a statement at the time.
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Murray → grow → time
While lawmakers in landlocked states out West, like Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Mike Rounds, R-S.D., warn that it would cause kids in their states to go to school in the dark.
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kids → warn → dark
"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 till 9:30 in the morning.
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sunrise → see → morning
It’s not going to work for us," Daines told CNN in July.
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Daines → go → July
And lawmakers won’t have much floor time to spare when they return after the midterm elections in November.
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they → have → November
Though it’s popular, more pressing issues like the National Defense Authorization Act, supplemental funding for the war and a looming government funding battle will likely take precedence.
And Republican leaders acknowledge that it’s not as easy a simple yes-or-no vote for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
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it → ’ → aisle
"Depends where you're living in the country and the impact — what it would be, in your own home state," Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said in July.
asserted
Barrasso → depend → July
"So it's not as simple as what one state might like."
uncertain
state → like → what
The Aporia
