In the long human argument over how to carve daylight from the clock, President Trump has turned a procedural dispute into a public confrontation, targeting Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas by name — and by phone number — over Cotton's resistance to making daylight saving time permanent. The Sunshine Protection Act, already passed by the House with broad bipartisan support, now stalls in a Senate adjourned until after November's midterm elections, caught between a president's impatience and a legislator's concern for farmers, children, and the darkness of winter mornings. It is a quarrel, at its
Trump Pressures GOP on Daylight Saving, Publishes Senator's Phone Number
It's dead as disco, and I don't think the leader will bring it up.
Mark
So Trump published a senator's phone number to pressure him on a bill about clocks. That seems like a pretty direct move—what's actually at stake here?
Mimi
The Sunshine Protection Act would end the twice-yearly clock changes. It passed the House 308-117, so there's real bipartisan support. But Cotton is blocking it in the Senate, and under Senate rules, one person can hold up a bill.
Mark
Why does Cotton oppose it?
Mimi
He's worried about winter mornings. Farmers, construction workers, kids going to school—they'd all start their day in darkness if daylight saving became permanent year-round.
Luke
That's his stated reason. But it's worth noting that Cotton made this argument in a floor speech last year, so this isn't new. Trump's framing it as obstruction, but Cotton has a consistent position.
Mark
Trump mentioned the PGA Tour and golfers. Is that actually a serious argument for the bill?
Mimi
Trump cited the PGA Tour CEO's letter supporting it. But the bill's real appeal seems broader—people do find the clock changes inconvenient. Trump's just emphasizing the afternoon daylight angle.
Luke
The PGA angle is interesting because it reveals something about whose interests are being centered. Farmers opposed it because of morning darkness, but Trump's highlighting golfers and the tour.
Mark
What happens next? Can Trump's pressure actually move Cotton?
Mimi
The Senate is in recess until after the November 3 midterms. Senator Kennedy said the bill is "dead as disco" and doubts the Republican leader will even bring it to a vote.
Luke
That's one senator's opinion. But it's significant that Kennedy, a Republican, is saying it won't pass. The real question is whether Trump's pressure changes anything, or whether the structural obstacles—the recess, the winter darkness concerns—are just too strong.
Mark
So publishing the phone number might not actually matter?
Luke
It might generate noise, but the legislative math seems to be against it regardless. The question is whether Trump's tactic changes any votes when the Senate returns.
Le Pouls
- Trump escalated from persuasion to public pressure by posting what he claimed was Senator Tom Cotton's cell phone number, urging Arkansas constituents to flood it with demands for his support.
- Cotton's voicemail box was reported full when contacted, signaling the tactic had immediate real-world impact — though neither his office nor the White House offered any comment.
- Cotton's opposition is rooted in a concrete concern: under permanent daylight saving, millions of Americans — schoolchildren, farmers, construction workers — would begin their winter days before dawn.
- The House passed the bill 308 to 117 in July, but the Senate has adjourned with no scheduled return before November 3, leaving the legislation in procedural limbo.
- Senator John Kennedy called the bill 'dead as disco,' casting doubt on whether Majority Leader Thune would even bring it to a floor vote before the recess — a structural wall Trump's social media pressure cannot easily breach.
In the long human argument over how to carve daylight from the clock, President Trump has turned a procedural dispute into a public confrontation, targeting Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas by name — and by phone number — over Cotton's resistance to making daylight saving time permanent. The Sunshine Protection Act, already passed by the House with broad bipartisan support, now stalls in a Senate adjourned until after November's midterm elections, caught between a president's impatience and a legislator's concern for farmers, children, and the darkness of winter mornings. It is a quarrel, at its root, about whose hours matter most.
President Trump spent part of a Saturday at his Virginia golf club and on social media waging a public campaign for permanent daylight saving time, singling out Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas as the obstacle standing between the bill and a Senate vote. In an unusual escalation, Trump posted what he said was Cotton's cell phone number and called on Arkansas residents to contact the senator directly — a tactic he had used before, most notably against Lindsey Graham during the 2016 campaign. When Al Jazeera dialed the number, an automated message reported the voicemail box was full.
Cotton has been a principled opponent of the legislation, arguing on the Senate floor that locking the country into permanent daylight saving would mean winter mornings spent in darkness for schoolchildren, farmers, and workers with early commutes. Trump dismissed those concerns, framing the bill — which he has renamed the 'No More Changing of Clocks Act' — as an easy political win for Republicans and a gift of afternoon light to constituents across the country. He cited the PGA Tour's formal support for the measure and expanded his list of beneficiaries to include golfers, hunters, and tennis players, his own enthusiasm for the sport coloring the argument throughout.
The House had already passed the bill in July by a commanding 308-to-117 margin, but the Senate presented a harder path. Congress had adjourned for the week with no return scheduled before the November 3 midterm elections. Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana offered the bluntest assessment, telling Reuters the bill was 'dead as disco' and predicting that Majority Leader Thune would not bring it to a floor vote before the recess. The historical record offered little comfort either: a 1974 experiment with year-round daylight saving was repealed within months after safety concerns about children traveling to school in pre-dawn darkness proved too politically costly to ignore. Trump's pressure campaign, however loud, faced a legislative calendar that social media could not reset.
President Trump took to social media on Saturday to escalate his campaign for permanent daylight saving time, singling out Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas for what he characterized as obstruction of the Sunshine Protection Act—a bill Trump has rebranded as the "No More Changing of Clocks Act." In his posts, Trump did not merely criticize Cotton's position; he published what he claimed was the senator's cell phone number and urged Arkansas residents to contact him directly and demand his support.
The move recalled a similar tactic from Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, when he released Senator Lindsey Graham's phone number after Graham had criticized him. When Al Jazeera dialed the number Trump posted, an automated message indicated the voicemail box was full. Neither Cotton's office nor the White House responded to requests for comment on the incident.
Cotton has been a consistent opponent of the legislation. In a Senate floor speech the previous year, he laid out his objections with specificity: farmers, construction workers, people commuting to jobs, and children heading to school would all face the prospect of beginning their days in darkness during winter months if the bill became law. Trump dismissed these concerns in a separate post, arguing that permanent daylight saving would constitute "a very nice and easy WIN for the Republican Party" and that Cotton, if he truly prioritized Arkansas, would support giving residents an extra hour of afternoon light.
The president's push for the bill reflects a broader pattern of pressure on Senate Republicans. The House had already passed the legislation in July by a vote of 308 to 117, a substantial bipartisan margin. Trump urged the Senate to follow suit, framing the measure as both practical and politically advantageous. He emphasized the inconvenience of the twice-yearly clock changes, noting that people disliked returning home to darkness immediately after a time shift—a sentiment he said had been shared with him by "a table full of very distinguished people" at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, where he spent part of Saturday.
Trump also enlisted unexpected allies in his argument. He cited the PGA Tour as a beneficiary of permanent daylight saving, sharing a letter from PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp in support of the bill. Trump expanded the list of potential winners to include golfers, tennis players, hunters, and farmers who would benefit from extended afternoon daylight. The president's personal enthusiasm for golf was evident in his framing of the issue.
Historically, Congress had experimented with year-round daylight saving in 1974 during the nation's energy crisis, but the experiment lasted less than a year. Lawmakers repealed it after safety concerns emerged—specifically, the risk to children traveling to school in pre-dawn darkness. That precedent has not disappeared from the legislative conversation.
The timing of Trump's push presented a practical obstacle. The Senate had adjourned for the week with no scheduled return date before the November 3 midterm elections. Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a Republican, expressed skepticism about the bill's prospects, telling Reuters that the measure was "dead as disco" and that he doubted Senate Republican Leader John Thune would bring it to a vote before the recess. Kennedy predicted the bill would face difficulty passing even if it reached the floor. The legislative calendar, combined with internal Republican divisions, meant that Trump's pressure campaign faced structural headwinds regardless of his social media tactics.
Citations marquantes
It should pass overwhelmingly, in a Bipartisan fashion— President Trump, on the Sunshine Protection Act
It's dead as disco. My sense is it would have trouble passing. I don't think the leader is going to bring it up.— Senator John Kennedy, on Trump's push for permanent daylight saving
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