Senate drags its feet as 19 states move toward permanent daylight saving time
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President Donald Trump blasted the Senate for letting the Sunshine Protection Act languish, even as 19 states have passed permanent daylight saving time laws that still cannot take effect without Congress.
Clocks will still fall back on Sunday, Nov. 1, because the Sunshine Protection Act, which passed the House in July, has been left to languish in the Senate, now in an extended election recess. The bill, introduced by Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Florida), would make daylight saving time permanent across the United States, finally ending the twice-yearly ritual of changing the clocks.
"The United States Senate is letting the Daylight Saving Bill die, when a vast Majority of the Country want it," President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Oct. 26. "Most people are demanding light in the evening, but ALL want not to change their clocks anymore."
"TAKE A VOTE!"
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which created the current system; only Congress can change it. While the federal measure remains stalled, 19 states have enacted laws to observe permanent daylight saving time, though none can take effect until Congress gives approval. Florida was the first state to pass such a law in 2018, followed by others including Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Some states, such as Delaware and Utah, have trigger provisions that would put permanent daylight saving time into effect only if neighboring states make the same move. Under existing federal law, states may adopt permanent standard time—as Arizona and Hawaii have done—but cannot on their own adopt permanent daylight saving time.
No Senate vote has been scheduled, and it remains unclear whether the chamber will even take up the bill after its recess ends on Nov. 6. Daylight saving time is set to end at 2 a.m. local time on Nov. 1, when clocks are turned back one hour, returning to standard time.