Sen. Tom Cotton Digs In After Trump Posts His Number and Demands Senate Vote on Permanent Daylight Saving Time
A fight over the nation’s clocks has turned into a public showdown between President Trump and Sen. Tom Cotton.
Trump singled out the Arkansas Republican, posted Cotton’s cellphone number, and urged people in the state to contact him until the Senate takes up legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent. Cotton, however, is not backing down.
Cotton answered Trump on X Saturday afternoon with a direct defense of his position:
“No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter,”
“Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first.”
Cotton’s argument is simple. Americans may dislike changing their clocks twice a year, but permanent daylight saving time can also create problems during the winter. In Arkansas, he says, families do not want children heading to school before sunrise.
That puts Cotton directly at odds with Trump, who has made the clock issue a priority. Trump referred to Cotton as “a friend of mine” while accusing him of holding up the Sunshine Protection Act. He said the legislation “should pass overwhelmingly, in a Bipartisan fashion,” and told Arkansas residents to “call Tom on his cellphone” and “GET IT DONE.”
Trump has also argued that Americans want more sunlight later in the day. In his Saturday message, he pointed to golfers, tennis players, hunters, farmers, and professional tournaments that could benefit from additional afternoon daylight. He wrote that “65% PLUS want more sun in the afternoon” while “100% don’t want to change their Clocks twice a year.”
The president also reminded Arkansas voters that he carried the state three times, most recently by 34 points. His message framed the dispute as a clear choice between ending the clock changes and allowing one senator to keep the Senate from voting.
The House has already passed the legislation. On July 14, 2026, H.R. 139, the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025, cleared the chamber by a vote of 308–117. The measure was then sent to the Senate, where it has remained in the Commerce Committee.
According to the source report, one objection is enough to keep the bill from reaching the Senate floor. Cotton, who serves as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, has made clear that he intends to be that objection.
Trump’s argument is that the current system is unpopular and costly. His message focused on the frustration of changing clocks in the spring and fall, along with the practical appeal of having more daylight in the afternoon. He also cited the PGA TOUR and farmers as groups that could benefit from a later sunset.
Cotton is looking at the other side of the clock. He says permanent daylight saving time would mean later winter sunrises, leaving some children traveling to school in darkness. That concern is the central reason he is resisting a bill Trump says should move quickly with bipartisan support.
For now, the Senate has not voted on the Sunshine Protection Act. The dispute leaves Arkansas voters caught between a president demanding action and their own senator insisting that permanent daylight saving time could create a new problem while solving an old one.
Source: The Gateway Pundit