Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the appointed heads to President-elect Donald Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency, are exploring ways to make the U.S. government more efficient.
One such change could be abolishing daylight saving time and the practice of changing the clocks twice a year.
Trump said that Musk and Ramaswamy: "will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
Daylight saving time (DST) lasts from mid-March until early November in the U.S. when clocks turn back an hour and return to standard time. The practice was introduced to make better use of daylight during working hours.
During DST, people can enjoy more time in the sunlight in the evenings, but according to health experts that convenience comes at a price.
"That one-hour change may not seem like much, but it can wreak havoc on people's mental and physical well-being in the short term," says Dr. Charles Czeisler, professor of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School's Division of Sleep Medicine.
Musk took to X to claim that many Americans find DST frustrating. "Looks like the people want to abolish the annoying time changes!" Musk posted on X.
Ramaswamy echoed the sentiment, calling it: “inefficient and easy to change”.
It remains unclear if Musk and Ramaswamy are seriously pushing for a policy change, as any move to abolish DST would likely require Congressional action, as lawmakers control time-related legislation and recent efforts to address the issue have stalled.
The debate over time changes has led to unusual alliances in Washington, with both Republicans and Democrats from coastal states advocating for year-round daylight saving time.
They argue that keeping the clocks permanently advanced by one hour would give people more sunlight and eliminate the hassles of adjusting clocks twice a year.
Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy were named in November to lead the Department of Government Efficiency following Trump’s election victory.
