House passes bill making daylight saving time permanent

The House voted Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide, advancing a long-running effort to end the twice-a-year clock changes that many Americans say they no longer want.

The bill, called the Sunshine Protection Act, passed 308-117. It would keep the country on the time now observed from March to November, when clocks are shifted one hour ahead, unless a state had an exemption in place before the law took effect. Hawaii and most of Arizona currently use standard time year-round, and Arizona, Hawaii and several U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, do not observe daylight saving time.

The measure now goes to the Senate, where its path is uncertain. A similar Senate bill stalled last year after Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., objected to fast-tracking it by unanimous consent in October. Cotton warned that permanent daylight saving time could bring overlooked consequences, including sunrises at 9 a.m. or later in some parts of the country, dark morning commutes and early work hours without sunlight. His office did not immediately respond to NBC News about whether he would object again.

Supporters say the change would reduce disruption, improve health and sleep schedules, help the economy and give people more daylight in the evening throughout the year. Critics argue that darker winter mornings could create health and safety risks.

“I don’t really know anybody who wants to change the clock anymore,” Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said Monday as the House Rules Committee considered the legislation.

Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., who introduced the bill, said Tuesday that changing clocks disrupts schedules “for no good reason.” As Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., presided over the House vote, he played The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” on his phone while reading the final tally, NBC News reported.

President Donald Trump has publicly urged Congress to send him the bill. In a May 21 post on Truth Social, he wrote that he was “going to work very hard to see The Sunshine Protection Act signed into Law.”

“It’s time that people can stop worrying about the ‘Clock,’ not to mention all of the work and money that is spent on this ridiculous, twice yearly production,” Trump wrote. “It will also be a very nice WIN for the Republican Party. Take it!”

CBS News reported that Trump’s position has shifted over time, noting that he has called both for daylight saving time to be eliminated and for it to be made permanent. When the bill advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in May, Trump said he would sign it if it reached his desk.

Congress has tried before to change the system. In 2022, the Senate voted by unanimous consent to make daylight saving time permanent, but the bill did not advance in the House. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who led earlier efforts in the Senate, called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to “bring this bill to a vote as soon as possible.”

Changing the clocks remains unpopular, according to a 2025 AP-NORC poll cited by NBC News, though Americans are divided over what should replace the current system. Nearly all states have considered legislation to stop the twice-yearly changes, and 19 states have enacted measures allowing year-round daylight saving time if Congress permits it, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The United States has used daylight saving time at several points in the past, including during World War I and World War II. It became official nationwide under the Uniform Time Act of 1966. Congress briefly made daylight saving time permanent in 1973 during the oil crisis, but reversed course months later after public opinion soured over dark early mornings. The current schedule, beginning daylight saving time on the second Sunday in March and ending it on the first Sunday in November, was enacted under President George W. Bush.