Will We Ever Stop Changing the Clocks?
By Anthony Collins
LPR Editor
Twice a year, millions of Americans perform the same familiar ritual: move the clocks forward in the spring and turn them back again in the fall. Cellphones and computers usually handle the change automatically these days, but our bodies are not always so quick to adjust. After years of complaints about disrupted sleep, darker evenings and the general inconvenience of changing time, the federal government is once again considering whether it is time to stop moving the clocks altogether. This time, however, the effort has moved considerably farther through Congress than many previous attempts. Under current federal law, daylight saving time, technically “saving,” not “savings,” begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. That means unless Congress changes the law beforehand, daylight saving time will end at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, when clocks will move backward one hour. Most of the country follows that schedule, although Hawaii, most of Arizona, and several U.S. territories do not observe daylight saving time. Federal law currently allows states to opt out and remain on standard time all year, but states cannot independently choose permanent daylight-saving time.
The current system traces much of its structure to the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which standardized daylight saving time across the country. Congress later extended the season through the Energy Policy Act of 2005, establishing the schedule Americans follow today, from the second Sunday in March through the first Sunday in November. Daylight saving time itself has a much longer history in the United States, dating to federal action during World War I. Congress has experimented with year-round daylight-saving time before, including during the energy crisis of the 1970s. A 1973 law originally established a nearly two-year experiment with year-round daylight-saving time, but Congress amended the plan in 1974 to restore standard time during part of the winter. Now Congress is considering another major change. On July 14, the U.S. House passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025, H.R. 139, by a bipartisan vote of 308 to 117. Rather than eliminating daylight saving time and keeping standard time, the legislation would essentially do the opposite: keep daylight saving time throughout the year and eliminate the twice-a-year clock change for most Americans. The bill was sent to the Senate and referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. As of Sept. 21, no Senate floor vote on the House bill had been announced.
The Trump administration has formally backed the proposal. In a July 14 statement, the White House Office of Management and Budget said the administration “strongly supports” H.R. 139 and said presidential advisers would recommend that President Donald Trump sign the legislation if it reaches his desk in its current form. The administration argues that keeping daylight saving time would eliminate the inconvenience of changing clocks while providing more evening daylight when people are more likely to be awake and active. The debate, however, is not simply about whether Americans are tired of changing their clocks. There is considerable disagreement over which time should become permanent. Supporters of permanent daylight-saving time point to later sunsets, additional daylight for recreation and shopping, and the possibility of shifting more daylight into the hours when more people are driving or outside. Opponents worry about what happens on the other end of the day. Keeping daylight saving time through the winter would mean later sunrises, leaving many commuters and schoolchildren traveling before sunrise, particularly in northern and western portions of time zones. Those concerns have been raised by lawmakers as the legislation has moved through Congress.
Sleep researchers have also entered the debate, and many make an important distinction: they support ending the clock changes but favor permanent standard time rather than permanent daylight-saving time. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says standard time more closely matches the body’s natural circadian rhythm because morning sunlight helps regulate sleep and wake cycles. Its 2024 position statement recommended eliminating seasonal clock changes in favor of year-round standard time. A major systematic review published in 2026, however, found the broader scientific picture is complicated. Reviewing 157 studies from 36 countries, researchers found some negative health effects associated with the spring transition, including higher rates of heart attacks and fatal traffic crashes, but also found that the available evidence does not support the idea that every effect of daylight-saving time is harmful. The authors concluded that the evidence remains limited and mixed enough to warrant a balanced approach.
Texas has already positioned itself for a change if Washington acts. Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1393 in June 2025 after it passed the Texas House 133 to 11 and the Senate 26 to 5. The law says Texas will observe daylight saving time throughout the year and calls the resulting system “Texas Time.” There is one major catch: the law takes effect only if Congress passes federal legislation authorizing Texas to remain on daylight saving time year-round. Until that happens, Texans must continue changing their clocks along with most of the country. So, will the government finally end the clock-changing tradition? There is a serious effort underway, and the House vote shows substantial bipartisan support for doing so. But the change is not law yet. The Senate would still have to approve legislation, and the president would then have to sign it. Until those steps occur, the existing schedule remains in place. For Texas residents, that means planning to “fall back” one hour on Nov. 1.
What appears increasingly clear is that the argument in Washington is shifting. The question is no longer only whether changing the clocks twice a year makes sense. The harder question is what replaces it: permanent daylight-saving time, with brighter evenings and darker winter mornings, or permanent standard time, with earlier morning light and earlier sunsets. Congress may eventually stop the clock-changing ritual Americans have known for generations, but exactly where the hands will stop remains unsettled.
