President Trump on Friday demanded the Senate pass a bill to make daylight saving time permanent and blamed Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, for stalling it, according to a report from the Washington Times.
The pressure campaign came in a Truth Social post early Friday, in which the president told Senate Republicans they “have to get” the measure done, according to the Gateway Pundit. The conservative outlet reported that Trump “dropped the hammer overnight on Senate Republicans” and named Cotton as the man holding up a bipartisan bill to end the twice-a-year clock change for good.
The Washington Times reported the president’s demand directly: Trump on Friday demanded the Senate pass a bill to make daylight saving time permanent and blamed Cotton, Arkansas Republican, for stalling it.
Additional coverage described the president as ramping up pressure on Senate Republicans to move forward with legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent, blaming Cotton for holding up the bipartisan effort to end the twice-a-year changing of clocks. According to that coverage, the House passed the Sunshine Protection Act.
The push drew attention from conservative accounts including @WashTimes and @gatewaypundit, both of which carried the president’s message and Cotton’s name to their audiences. The Washington Times post went out at 16:14 UTC on Friday, while the Gateway Pundit post followed at 14:49 UTC, indicating the story circulated through conservative media channels during the morning and afternoon news cycle.
Trump’s Truth Social post, as described by the Gateway Pundit, directed Senate Republicans to act and singled out the Arkansas senator by name. The post read in part that Senate Republicans “have to get” the legislation passed, according to the outlet’s account.
The underlying bill, the Sunshine Protection Act, would end the practice of changing clocks twice a year and establish daylight saving time as the permanent standard. The House has passed the measure, according to coverage of the dispute, leaving the Senate as the chamber where the legislation has stalled.
Cotton has not publicly responded to the president’s post in the material reviewed. It is not yet known whether the Senate will take up the bill or whether Cotton will address the president’s criticism directly.
While the daylight saving time fight consumed conservative media, other political stories were also moving through the news cycle on Friday. The New Yorker reported that the Republican Party stands to lose Latino voters who coalesced for Donald Trump in 2024, noting that his approval rating among Hispanic voters has fallen as low as twenty-six per cent. According to that report, Libre, a Koch-backed group, hopes to mitigate the possible voter fallout in Michigan, specifically in the Senate race there.
The New York Times reported breaking news that a top Republican super PAC pulled money from the North Carolina Senate race, signaling the party no longer sees a path to winning the state.
CNN reported that dramatic political attack ads hitting the airwaves this year have shown a Senate candidate driving a bus of undocumented immigrants to a polling place, a governor hopeful grabbing bags stuffed full of cash, and a Republican congressman holding hands with two of his Democratic opponents.
Each of those stories reflects a different front in the broader political landscape, but the daylight saving time dispute remained the focus of the president’s direct message to Senate Republicans on Friday. The Gateway Pundit characterized the president’s post as telling Senate Republicans they “have to get” the bill done, while the Washington Times framed the demand as a direct appeal to the upper chamber to act on the bipartisan measure.
The White House has not issued additional guidance beyond the president’s Truth Social post, and Senate leadership has not announced a timeline for bringing the Sunshine Protection Act to the floor.
Next News Network could not independently verify the claims made in the president’s post or the underlying status of the Senate legislation.
Our Take
President Trump is right to keep the heat on Senate Republicans over a bill that has already cleared the House and enjoys broad bipartisan support. The twice-a-year clock change is a relic that disrupts sleep, confuses schedules, and serves no modern purpose. If the Sunshine Protection Act can pass the House, there is no good reason for the Senate to sit on it.
Sen. Tom Cotton is a serious legislator with a conservative record, but on this issue he appears to be standing in the way of a popular, common-sense reform. The president’s decision to name him publicly is a pressure tactic, and it is a fair one. Voters want results, not procedural excuses.
At the same time, Republicans would be wise to keep an eye on the broader electoral picture. The New Yorker’s report on falling Hispanic support and the New York Times’ report on a super PAC pulling money from North Carolina are warning signs that the party cannot afford to be distracted by internal squabbles. Passing the daylight saving bill would be a win Republicans can take to voters — and a reminder that they can govern.
The Senate should act, and Cotton should stop blocking. The president is right to demand it.
