Congress to Vote on Daylight Saving Time

WASHINGTON (July 13) — The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote this week on a high-profile, bipartisan bill that would permanently eliminate the biannual ritual of changing American clocks, potentially locking the nation into Daylight Saving Time year-round.

The legislation, officially known as the Sunshine Protection Act (H.R. 139), advanced to the full House floor following a lopsided 48–1 vote of approval from the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Floor debate and a final vote in the full House chamber are slated to take place during the upcoming legislative session.

The bill, championed by Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL), has found renewed energy in recent weeks following public endorsements from President Donald Trump, who urged lawmakers to pass the bill to allow Americans to “stop worrying about the clock.”

If enacted into law, the bill would end the practice of “springing forward” in March and “falling back” in November. Instead, the country would permanently remain on the later-daylight schedule typically reserved for summer months. States and territories that currently observe year-round Standard Time—including Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, and Guam—would be allowed to retain their current exemptions under the law.

“My Sunshine Protection Act will bring us one step closer to ending the outdated and unpopular practice of changing our clocks twice a year,” Rep. Buchanan said in a statement following the committee markup. “The evidence is clear that permanent daylight saving time can improve public health, reduce traffic accidents, lower crime, and encourage more outdoor activity.”

Despite its overwhelming committee support, the proposal faces heavy resistance from a coalition of sleep scientists and agricultural groups. Opponents point out that permanent Daylight Saving Time would push winter sunrises significantly later into the morning. In some northern and western regions of the country’s time zones, the sun would not rise until nearly 9:00 a.m. during the winter solstice, forcing school children and early commuters into pitch-black darkness.

“Permanent daylight saving time is a mistake for human biology,” noted a statement from the National Sleep Foundation, which advocates instead for permanent Standard Time to align better with natural human circadian rhythms.

Even if the bill successfully clears the House next week, its legislative journey is far from over. The Senate companion bill (S. 29), introduced by Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), has not yet been scheduled for a definitive floor vote. While the Senate previously passed a version of the bill by unanimous consent in 2022, several senators later expressed regret over the vote, and leadership has indicated that the upper chamber will wait to gauge the margin of the House’s vote before committing to a firm legislative calendar for the bill later this summer.