Every year in (most of) the U.S., we move our clocks ahead one hour in the spring and one hour back in the fall. That time in between is called daylight saving time. (That’s right, drop that “s.”)
As the days begin to get shorter and the nights start to get longer, the end of daylight saving time will be here before we know it. In fact, it will come a day earlier than last year.
On Sunday, Nov. 2, at 2 a.m. local time, daylight saving time will come to an end. This means that most Americans will need to change their clocks, at least the ones that still require changing, to “fall back” one hour to standard time. This will provide more hours of daylight in the winter mornings but also means earlier sunsets.
Here’s what else to know — and why it’s considered controversial.
Why do we have daylight saving time, anyway?
In 1918, the U.S. passed a law called the Standard Time Act, implementing standard and daylight saving times.
According to the Department of Defense, the measure was enacted during World War I as a way to save energy by extending the time of day when the sun set.
It was reinstated during World War II but not standardized until 1966, when the Uniform Time Act established a system of uniform daylight saving time throughout the nation.
Observing daylight saving time is up to individual states, and not all of them do it. Hawaii and most of Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) do not observe daylight saving time, nor do the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
A majority of Americans want to stop changing their clocks
A January 2025 Gallup poll found that the majority of Americans, 54%, wanted to see the changing of the clocks eliminated entirely, compared to 40% who wanted to keep the current practice, while 6% aren’t sure.
Meanwhile, a different group of poll participants was asked for their preference between standard and daylight saving time. Of those polled, 48% of Americans said they would prefer to have standard time year-round, vs. half as many Americans, 24%, who would prefer to have daylight saving time year-round. And 19% of Americans prefer switching between standard time and daylight saving time.
Sleep doctors would prefer we switch to standard time permanently.
“The U.S. should eliminate seasonal time changes in favor of a national, fixed, year-round time,” the American Academy of Sleep Medicine said in a statement published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine last year. “Current evidence best supports the adoption of year-round standard time, which aligns best with human circadian biology and provides distinct benefits for public health and safety.”
Behind the push to make daylight saving time permanent
There have been recent efforts at the state and federal levels to sunset the twice-a-year ritual of setting the clocks.
The “Sunshine Protection Act,” a bipartisan bill that seeks to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide, has been repeatedly filed. In March 2022, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a version of it, but it didn’t pass in the House; therefore, it never became a law.
Versions of the bill, H.R. 139 and S. 29, were reintroduced in the 119th Congress back in January by Florida Republicans Rep. Vern Buchanan and Sen. Rick Scott, but they are still in committee and haven’t been enacted.
Meanwhile, many states have taken it upon themselves and have passed laws or resolutions to lock the clocks on either permanent daylight saving time or permanent standard time, but they would only take effect if Congress authorized it.
Scott, who is leading the revival of the Sunshine Act in the Senate, said in a statement: “It’s an unnecessary, decades-old practice that’s more of an annoyance to families than benefit to them. In 2018, as Governor of Florida, I signed legislation that would allow the state to opt out of the practice of changing the time and I’ve been a leading effort in getting this done on the federal level.”
But for now, daylight saving time will begin again on Sunday, March 8, 2026.
Where does President Trump stand on the issue?
The president has gone back and forth on the issue of daylight saving time.
In December 2024, before taking office, then-President-elect President Trump said he wanted to put an end to daylight saving time and observe standard time year-round.
Then, after taking office, he seemed to be on the fence and called it a “50-50 issue” back in March during remarks in the Oval Office.
Trump then shifted his stance in April, writing on social media that he’s in favor of permanent daylight saving time. “The House and Senate should push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day. Very popular and, most importantly, no more changing of the clocks, a big inconvenience and, for our government, A VERY COSTLY EVENT!!! DJT,” the post read.
Yahoo’s Dylan Stableford contributed reporting to this article.
