Trump backs permanent daylight savings time

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) – U.S. President Donald Trump threw his support Monday behind making daylight savings time permanent in the U.S.

"Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me!" the president said in a brief tweet.

Daylight savings took effect Sunday as several states including California -- by far, the most populous in the nation -- are weighing removing the change from daylight savings time to standard time in preference for the former set of hours.

At the federal level, Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Vern Buchanan last week introduced legislation that would make daylight savings time permanent across the U.S.

The Sunshine Protection Act is the second time Rubio and Buchanan have attempted to make the nationwide change.

Standard time is observed for just four months out of the year in the U.S., and the act would ensure that Americans would no longer need to adjust their clocks twice yearly.

Rubio and Buchanan pointed to studies they said have shown the change would produce economic and other benefits, including reductions in car accidents and energy usage.