The U.S. House of Representatives is preparing to vote on the “Sunshine Protection Act,” a bill that would make daylight saving time (DST) permanent nationwide and eliminate the biannual clock change.

The legislation recently cleared a major hurdle in May, when the House Energy and Commerce Committee overwhelmingly backed the initiative in a 48-1 vote. While similar bills have repeatedly stalled in Congress over the years—including a Senate-passed version in 2022 that never reached the House floor—lawmakers are facing renewed pressure from President Donald Trump.

“This is so important in that Hundreds of Millions of Dollars are spent every year by people, Cities, and States, being forced to change their Clocks,” President Trump wrote in a recent Truth Social post, pledging to work hard to sign the bill into law.

The Federal Catch-22

Currently, only Arizona and Hawaii do not observe DST, utilizing a loophole in the 60-year-old Uniform Time Act of 1966. Under federal law, states are permitted to opt out of daylight saving time to remain on standard time year-round, but they are strictly prohibited from doing the opposite—making DST permanent.

Because of this restriction, a wave of state-level laws passed over the last several years are effectively frozen in limbo.

• 19 states have passed laws or resolutions supporting year-round DST over the last seven years.

• At least 16 states have actively considered or are currently considering time-change legislation.

Many states, such as Florida (the first to pass a resolution in 2018), Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and most recently Texas—where Governor Greg Abbott signed a permanent DST measure into law in May—have trigger laws ready to take effect the moment Congress acts. Other states, like Colorado, Montana, and Washington, have passed permanent DST laws that are contingent not only on federal approval but also on their regional neighbors making the same switch.

Rising Support for Standard Time

As Congress stalls on federal repeal, a growing counter-movement has emerged at the state level. Because states can legally opt out of DST without congressional approval, several lawmakers are introducing bills to “lock the clock” on standard time instead.

In states like Alaska, Kentucky, and Tennessee, measures have been introduced to permanently adopt standard time. Climatologists in Alaska have noted that permanent DST would leave some northern cities, like Nome, without a sunrise until after 1:00 PM in the winter. Meanwhile, states like Massachusetts and New York have seen proposals ranging from adopting Atlantic Standard Time to completely abolishing the biannual shift.

Ultimately, the power to stop the clock-switching routine rests entirely with Capitol Hill. Until the Uniform Time Act of 1966 is officially repealed or amended, Americans will continue to wind their clocks forward and backward every spring and fall.