The U.S. Capitol on the evening of September 30, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide. This is a bipartisan move that brings the country one step closer to ending the long-controversial ritual of biannual time changes.
The House of Representatives passed the measurecalled the Sunshine Protection Act, 308-117. His future in the Senate is uncertain.
The Sunshine Protection Act, introduced by Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida, passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a vote of 48-1 in May and has broad appeal Support by President Donald Trump.
“This bipartisan legislation represents popular, common-sense reform and would benefit Americans by protecting precious daylight in the evening, when people are most likely to be awake and active,” the White House said in a statement Tuesday. “If (the bill) were presented to the president in its current form, his advisers would recommend that he sign it into law.”
Year-round summer time
Permanent daylight saving time would mean that clocks move forward one hour year-round, eliminating the need to “spring forward” every March and “fall back” every November. The adjustment would extend more daylight into the evening and result in later sunrises and sunsets compared to standard time.
“Establishing permanent daylight saving time would provide families with more usable daylight hours in the evenings and additional opportunities for people to spend time outdoors,” said Republican Rep. Gus M. Bilirakis of Florida during debates in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Many other Florida representatives expressed support for the bill Tuesday, saying later daylight hours would lend a hand boost the Sunshine State’s economy.
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., a New Jersey Democrat, agreed.
In his support for permanent daylight saving time, he also pointed out the harmful effects that changing clocks twice a year can have on people’s health and on the sleep quality of newborn children and pets.
Under the bill, states that do not observe daylight saving time before it takes effect would have the choice to remain on standard time permanently.
The provision would affect only two states, Hawaii and Arizona outside the Navajo Nation, which already do not observe daylight saving time. These states instead follow standard time, the hours that the rest of the country observes year-round from November to March. Other states that want to opt out would have to pass a law the day before the federal law takes effect.
Is standard time better?
Many health experts say standard time is better for humans because it increases the amount of daylight in the morning, which has a positive effect on body rhythms and helps improve sleep, according to The Hill Reports.
Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, the only lawmaker to speak against the bill during floor debate on Tuesday, cited the benefits associated with standard time as one of her main reasons for opposing the bill.
Although she, too, expressed frustration with the practice of time changes, she said dozens of medical associations show “if we stop the clock, permanent standard time is a healthier choice.”
Dean also referred to events that occurred in 1974, the last time the United States briefly attempted to permanently adopt daylight saving time. Some children lost their lives walking to school in the dim, she said.
“We are not currently voting on bills that would reduce the enormous costs of food, fuel, health care or the president’s war in Iran,” Dean said. “Instead, we are considering a bill that has a history of being deadly and dangerous.”
Past and future of summer time
First, summer time applied introduced According to the journal Science, it was used as an energy-saving war measure at the beginning of the 20th century. There have been brief periods of permanent daylight saving time change in the United States over the years, but the federal government has returned to the practice of changing time each time.
In recent years, lawmakers have also tried to introduce permanent summer time. In 2022, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved one earlier version of the bill sponsored by Sens. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, and Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, only for the measure to stall in the House.
In a statement Tuesday, Murray called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to bring the House-passed bill to the Senate floor for a vote.
“My state, where it often gets dark earlier than 4 p.m. in the winter, has made it clear that we want permanent daylight saving time,” Murray wrote. “Americans from Seattle to Miami believe it is long overdue to stop the clock – I call on Leader Thune to bring this bill to a vote as quickly as possible.”
When the Senate considers the bill this year, some will opposition is likely to be brought up, including by Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas.
