House GOP leaders are planning to put legislation on the floor next week that would make daylight saving time permanent in hopes of softening a revolt led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.
According to four people granted anonymity to describe internal party strategy, GOP leaders are moving ahead with a vote on the so-called Sunshine Protection Act because the bill is a major priority for Florida Republicans, including Luna. It’s also a top priority for President Donald Trump, who in recent months has personally been calling lawmakers to urge them to back the measure that would add more sunlight to the evening hours and end the twice-yearly practice of changing the clocks.
Luna helped tank a procedural vote before the July 4 holiday in protest of the Senate not having passed the GOP elections bill known as the SAVE America Act, forcing the House to leave early for its weeklong recess. She has still not committed to allowing legislation to go through when Congress is due to return Monday.
The concept of making daylight saving time permanent is popular in Florida, which relies on the tourism and golfing industries. Her office, however, did not respond to a request for comment Friday about whether a vote on daylight saving time would change her calculus.
Meanwhile, it’s also not likely to change the calculus for other House GOP hard-liners who opposed the procedural rule alongside Luna — not as leverage over the SAVE America Act but to demand votes on unrelated border security and immigration legislation. They will need to be enticed in other ways, according to three of the people.
But the decision by Republican leaders to hold a standalone vote on the Sunshine Protection Act, which is already included in the surface transportation reauthorization measure pending consideration by the full House, signals a desperation to get the chamber back on track in short time left before the launch of the August recess and the final stretch of midterm campaign season.
Apart from Luna, passage of the measure at this time would give Trump an easy win as the transportation bill is not expected to advance by its Sept. 30 deadline — plus stands a very high chance of getting stripped out due to disagreements among lawmakers, particularly among those in agriculture-heavy states worried about the effects of additional hours of darkness on farmers.
Spokespeople for Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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