Washington — The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent across the country, amid years of efforts to end the twice-yearly clock change.
The bill, called the Sunshine Protection Act, passed by a vote of 308 to 117. In addition to moving clocks forward an hour, which happens in the spring, the measure would allow states to use standard time if an exception were in place until the federal law took effect. Hawaii and most of Arizona currently use standard time year-round.
“I don’t know anyone else who wants to change the clocks,” Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey said Monday as the House Rules Committee considered the measure.
GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida, who introduced the bill, said Tuesday that the clock is turning disrupt schedules “without good reason.”
Supporters of the bill say the change would have a positive impact on sleep patterns, people’s health and the economy, and would allow Americans to have more daylight in the evenings throughout the year. Its critics say prolonged darkness during winter morning hours will have a negative impact on health and safety.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where his future is unclear. The Senate passed a similar measure in 2022, but it was never taken up by the House. Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, who previously led efforts in the upper chamber to make daylight saving time permanent, called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to “bring this bill to a vote as soon as possible.”
President Trump’s position on this issue has changed over the years. He called for both abolishing daylight saving time and making it permanent. In May, when the bill left the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Trump said he would sign it if it reached his desk.
On Wednesday morning, he called the bill’s passage “great news for America!”
Congress passed Daylight Saving Time in 1918 to add additional daylight hours and help conserve energy during World War I. This rule was reintroduced during World War II.
Congress briefly made daylight saving time permanent in 1973, but reversed course just months later after public opinion soured over the experiment. The current practice of daylight saving time beginning on the second Sunday in March and ending on the first Sunday in November was instituted under President George W. Bush.
“Permanent daylight saving time was eliminated during the year because it didn’t work,” Democratic Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania said Monday during a Rules Committee meeting. “We all like an extra hour of sunshine in the summer, but when people think about it, they need to consider the extra hours of darkness in the winter.”