Musk, Ramaswamy Consider Ending Clock Changes
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are apparently floating the idea of doing away with changing the clocks twice a year and staying on daylight savings time permanently, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
However, it was unclear if the two men, whom President-elect Donald Trump has chosen to run the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), were seriously considering a new policy or just throwing out suggestions on social media.
“Looks like the people want to abolish the annoying time changes!” Musk wrote last week on X, linking to another user’s online poll that found most wanted to end daylight saving time.
BREAKING: @VivekGRamaswamy and @elonmusk support abolishing the time changes
Who would LOVE to see this happen?! pic.twitter.com/dSseGyzP9C
— James Jinnette (@james_jinnette1) November 27, 2024
The practice of shifting clocks forward one hour in March and back one hour in November is intended to maximize the exposure to sunlight during working hours but has long been blamed for causing groggy mornings, missed appointments, and even some public health problems.
In reply to Mus’, Ramaswamy wrote “it’s inefficient & easy to change.”
In a follow-up post, Musk told Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, he did indeed want to end the time changes.
Advocates for year-round daylight saving time say permanently advancing the clocks one hour would permit more people to enjoy sunshine and avoid the frustrations involved with resetting clocks.
But politicians in the center of the country have pointed out that such a policy would mean winter sunrises that could happen past 9 a.m. in cities such as Indianapolis and Detroit.
Complaints about clock changes are not new, and lawmakers in the early 1970s even moved to permanently adopt daylight saving time.
However, that decision backfired almost immediately, as there was nationwide criticism of the move, because children were waiting in the dark for school buses to arrive.
Congress ended up rolling back the change after 10 months.
