President Donald Trump publicly pressed Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) to drop his opposition to legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent, urging Arkansans in a Truth Social post to call the senator on his cellphone.
Trump’s post framed the measure, known as The Sunshine Protection Act, as something golfers, tennis players, hunters and farmers would welcome because it would mean more daylight for outdoor activity and work. He said Cotton was the lone holdout blocking a bill that “should pass overwhelmingly, in a Bipartisan fashion.”
“Everybody in Arkansas, Tom Cotton, a friend of mine, is holding up a very important Bill. It’s called, ‘The Sunshine Protection Act’ or, ‘We Don’t Want to Change Our Clocks Twice a Year Act.’ For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it’s very easy to do, it only takes one!”
Trump noted that in the Senate, a single member can hold up legislation, and argued that “nobody wants to spend their precious time running all over the place, turning Clocks back twice a year.”
“So, everyone in Arkansas, a State I love, and won 3 times, the last by by 34 points, tell Tom to, GET IT DONE! It will be appreciated by all. Nobody wants to spend their precious time running all over the place, turning Clocks back twice a year and, having sunshine in the afternoon is better than early in the morning!”
He went further, telling Arkansas residents directly to make their voices heard with their senator.
“Almost everybody wants ‘The Sunshine Protection Act’ to pass, except for Tom 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,” Trump wrote, adding that people should “call Tom on his cellphone.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has pushed for the bill. In May, as the Energy and Commerce Committee voted on The Sunshine Protection Act, Trump said he would be working “very hard to see The Sunshine Protection Act signed into Law.”
The House of Representatives has already acted on the measure, passing it 308-117 in July. The bill now awaits Senate action, where Cotton’s objection has stalled its progress.
