President Trump is vowing to tackle a cause supported by a large swath of the public — ending the practice of Americans having to change their clocks twice a year. 

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient and very costly to our Nation.”

Daylight saving time has its roots in the 18th century but did not really gain popularity until World War I when it was used as a wartime tool by countries to conserve energy by adding more hours of daylight into the day. However, after World War Two, states created their own standard time. In 1966, the Uniform Time Act was passed to create a national standard time and establish daylight savings. 

Since then, changing the time on clocks has fallen out of favor with Americans, who tend to experience worse moods and greater tiredness when the time changes. Medical researchers say the time changes may also negatively impact Americans’ health, such as increasing the chance of strokes or heart attacks. 

States can opt out of daylight saving by passing a law like Hawaii and Arizona. While most states have declined to opt out, recent polls have found that most Americans are fed up with changing their clocks. 

A 2021 Associated Press/NORC poll found that most Americans want to end the practice. However, they are divided over whether to stick with daylight savings time, when clocks move forward an hour, or standard time, when they are rolled back. 

The survey found that 32 percent of Americans would prefer keeping daylight saving time year-round, while 43 percent said they would prefer keeping standard time year-round. 

Proponents of making daylight saving time permanent argue that it will limit seasonal depression and give children more time to play outside. However, critics worry it would force children to go to school in the dark and make it hard for some people to stay alert in the mornings. 

In 2022, the Senate surprisingly passed a bill to make daylight saving time permanent. However, it did not get a vote in the House. In 2023, senators re-introduced the bill, but it also stalled out.