House Votes for Permanent Daylight Saving Time - The New York Times

House Approves Legislation to Establish Permanent Daylight Saving Time

Reporting from the Capitol

July 14, 2026

The House of Representatives voted 308-117 on Tuesday to approve the Sunshine Protection Act, which would end the twice-yearly adjustment of clocks and establish daylight saving time throughout the year. The bill now moves to the Senate, where its prospects remain unclear.

The legislation would require daylight saving time nationwide beginning in 2027, according to its provisions. Under current federal law, states may observe daylight saving time from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. The new measure would eliminate the return to standard time in the fall.

President Trump has expressed support for permanent daylight saving time. In a May social media post, he stated that the change would provide “a longer, brighter Day” and described the existing clock adjustments as a “ridiculous, twice yearly production.”

Several Florida Republicans sponsored or supported the bill. Representative Vern Buchanan of the Tampa Bay area backed the legislation, and Representative Anna Paulina Luna, also from the Tampa Bay area, served as a cosponsor. House leaders scheduled the vote in connection with efforts to address a separate voting measure.

Congress has addressed time policy in prior statutes. The Standard Time Act of 1918 created federal authority over time zones. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 permitted states to observe daylight saving time during specified months. Legislation enacted in 2005 extended the daylight saving period by several weeks. Nineteen states have enacted laws to adopt permanent daylight saving time, but those measures cannot take effect without a change in federal statute.

Hawaii and most of Arizona, along with Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands, remain on standard time year-round.

Some members of Congress have opposed permanent daylight saving time. Representatives Mary Gay Scanlon, Democrat of Pennsylvania, and Pat Harrigan, Republican of North Carolina, introduced an alternative measure earlier this month that would require standard time throughout the year. Scanlon stated that morning light serves as an environmental cue for the body’s internal clock and that evening light signals time for sleep.

The Coalition for Permanent Standard Time, an advocacy organization, has argued that standard time aligns more closely with human circadian rhythms. The group has stated that permanent daylight saving time would not improve sleep health.

If enacted, the bill would permit individual states to enact legislation opting for year-round standard time instead.

Representative Gus Bilirakis, Republican of Florida, said the twice-yearly clock change no longer matches contemporary patterns of work and commerce. Florida enacted its own permanent daylight saving time statute in 2018.

The United States previously suspended clock changes in 1974 but restored them after public objections. In 2022, the Senate passed a similar bill sponsored by then-Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, but the measure did not advance in the House.

Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the Senate Republican whip, said on Tuesday that the earlier Senate-passed bill had not progressed in the House. He indicated that the current measure’s reception would depend on regional effects. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas stated last year that permanent daylight saving time would result in later winter sunrises.

The Senate has not yet scheduled action on the House-passed bill.