U.S. House passes bill to make daylight time permanent

Sunlight falls on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on July 13. (Al Drago/Reuters via CNN Newsource)

The U.S. House voted Tuesday to pass a measure to enact year-round daylight time across the country, springing the U.S. Congress forward into an issue that has long stumped lawmakers and spurred impassioned pleas by parents, farmers and others with sharply divergent views.

It will now will head to the U.S. Senate for approval before going to the U.S. president for his signature — though its chances in the upper chamber remain unclear. Proponents argue it would spare Americans from having to change their clocks, disrupting young children’s sleep schedules and arguably causing more seasonal depression. But detractors say it could have economic consequences, particularly for farmers who would have to wrestle with later sunrises. The House vote was 308 to 117.

U.S. President Donald Trump has long decried the semiannual ritual of Americans changing their clocks, though his position on whether the country should default to standard or daylight time has evolved.

He cheered Tuesday’s bill, the Sunshine Protection Act, when it advanced out of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee in May.

“Hundreds of Millions of Dollars are spent every year by people, Cities, and States, being forced to change their Clocks,” he said in a Truth Social post.

“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. It will also be a very nice WIN for the Republican Party. Take it!” the post said.

Many states are ready to embrace the shift. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 19 states have enacted legislation to switch to year-round daylight time if Congress allows it. But the bill also allows states to opt out if they act before it takes effect, which could affect residents in Hawaii, much of Arizona, and various U.S. territories who observe standard time.

Like Trump, congressional lawmakers have long taken an interest in passing laws to “ditch the switch” and make daylight time permanent. The issue has generated zealous lobbying and strong advocacy from interest groups including the golf industry, filmmakers, farmers and educators. Support and opposition do not fall on clean party lines.

Proponents of Tuesday’s measure argue dropping the clock change would come with a raft of benefits, including sparing Americans from losing an hour of sleep in the spring and other inconveniences. They argue more work hours in sunlight means less seasonal depression, more recreational and economic activity, and less crime in the evenings.

“There’s a lot of science on this, and really the question is, why do we still change our clocks? That’s a question many of us ask every time we have to do it, and it’s getting harder and harder to justify,” Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone said at a House committee hearing Monday.

But detractors of the change make the same arguments — pointing to economic benefits and the health of Americans. Lawmakers hailing from agricultural districts warn farmers could be devastated by long winter mornings that see the sun rise later, especially in districts where some won’t see sunlight until after 9 a.m. And some advocates argue it could endanger the lives of students who would commute to school in the dark.

And there are some lawmakers who may favor abandoning the clock change but say adopting permanent standard time makes more sense than year-round daylight time.

“If we’re going to make a permanent change that affects every American, we should follow the science and prioritize Americans’ health, particularly that of the children,” Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon said, speaking in favor of switching to permanent standard time at a committee hearing Monday.

Lawmakers’ mixed feelings about the issue largely mirror those of the American public. Polling has showed Americans don’t like changing their clocks but can’t agree on a solution.

“I’m a little undecided as to where I go on this bill, but we’ve heard loud and clear that people don’t want to change the clocks,” Republican Rep. Nick Langworthy, who represents parts of Buffalo, N.Y., said at Monday’s committee hearing,

Congress has previously tried to move to permanent daylight time, adopting a measure in 1974 as the U.S. was experiencing an energy crisis. But lawmakers quickly reversed course amid deep unpopularity — a fact that opponents of Tuesday’s bill regularly reference.

The episode hasn’t deterred lawmakers from toying with the idea again.

In 2022, the Senate passed a version of a daylight time bill, but it did not get a floor vote in the House. A bipartisan group of senators in 2025 sought unanimous consent to pass a similar measure, but were thwarted by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas.