The oven clock is an hour off, the sun set earlier than it did yesterday, and your phone fixed itself overnight. That is how most Americans met the end of daylight saving time this Sunday, November 1. Many used the extra hour to rest or to plan the month ahead, from Social Security payment dates in November to other deadlines on the calendar.
This year, the switch came with a political fight. “The United States Senate is letting the Daylight Saving Bill die,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, according to Newsweek. The line reflects how close the clock change came to ending, and how far it still is from going away.
When did the clocks change?
Clocks moved back one hour at 2:00 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 1, returning most of the country to standard time. Daylight saving time always ends on the first Sunday of November, and it began this year on Sunday, March 8.
Phones, computers and other connected devices update on their own. Analog watches, wall clocks, car dashboards and many ovens and microwaves still have to be set back by hand.
In practice, mornings will be a little brighter for now and evenings will get dark sooner. That is the part many people notice most during the commute home.
Which places did not change their clocks?
Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe daylight saving time, so nothing changed for residents there. Arizona has stayed out since 1968, although the Navajo Nation, in the northeast corner of the state, does change its clocks.
U.S. territories also stay on standard time all year:
- Puerto Rico
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Guam
- Northern Mariana Islands
- American Samoa
Why is the bill to end the clock change stuck?
The House passed H.R. 139, the Sunshine Protection Act, in July, as the House Energy and Commerce Committee announced. The vote was 308-117, according to Newsweek. The bill would keep clocks one hour ahead of standard time all year across most of the country.
The Senate is another story. According to the Associated Press, the chamber is unlikely to act before the end of the year. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas opposes the bill and points out that Congress has tried permanent daylight saving time before and repealed it. Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota warns that children would go to school in the dark.
Supporters include Sen. Rick Scott of Florida and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said there is no clear path forward or consensus, Newsweek reports.
Trump has pressed the issue hard, even posting Cotton’s cellphone number on social media, the AP reports. So far, that pressure has not moved the bill to a Senate vote.
Could states end the time change on their own?
Not in the direction most of them want. Under the Uniform Time Act, a state may stay on standard time all year, as Hawaii and most of Arizona do, but it cannot adopt daylight saving time permanently.
Nineteen states have passed laws to move to permanent daylight saving time, Newsweek notes, but those changes cannot take effect until Congress changes federal law.
When will the clocks change again?
Unless Congress acts first, clocks will spring forward one hour on Sunday, March 14, 2027, the second Sunday of March.
Until then, it is worth checking any clock that does not update itself, and looking over the dates that matter this month. Retirees, for example, have until December 7 to change their Medicare plans, and drivers in Nevada should check the DMV’s planned license shutdown before making a trip.
