The Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, appears to be signaling its intention to tackle daylight saving time. Musk has indicated support for ending semiannual clock changes in recent days on his social media platform X, sharing a poll showing majority opposition to the practice.
DOGE co-head Ramaswamy also backed the stance, calling time changes “inefficient and easy to change.”
The initiative follows a failed 2022 legislative attempt, the Sunshine Protection Act, which passed the Senate but stalled in the House. The Department of Transportation, which oversees time changes, cannot alter the system without congressional action.
Public sentiment appears to favor reform, with a 2022 YouGov poll showing two-thirds of Americans support ending time changes. Studies have linked the switches to increased rates of heart attacks and traffic accidents, while JPMorgan Chase research found the return to standard time reduces consumer spending by up to 4.9%. Several countries including Mexico, Russia, and Turkey have already discontinued daylight saving time, which originated during World War I as an energy conservation measure.
