By Lucretia Hughes Klucken
Americans have complained about changing their clocks twice a year for decades. We spring forward, lose an hour of sleep, spend several days trying to adjust and then turn around in the fall and do it all over again.
Now, a reader has asked a fair question: Whatever happened to the law that was supposed to end this foolishness?
The answer is that Congress has once again completed only half the job.
The U.S. House passed the Sunshine Protection Act on July 14 by a bipartisan vote of 308-117. The legislation would make daylight saving time permanent, ending the ritual of changing clocks every March and November.
The bill was received by the Senate on July 15, read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. As of Aug. 11, it has not received a final Senate vote and has not been sent to President Donald Trump.
So, no, it is not yet law.
The bill is sitting in the Senate while lawmakers have left Washington for their summer recess.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., has publicly called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to bring the legislation to the floor. That means the question now belongs directly at the feet of Senate leadership: Will Thune schedule a vote, or will the Senate allow another widely supported proposal to die from neglect?
This is not the first time Congress has played legislative pingpong with the issue.
In March 2022, the Senate unanimously approved an earlier Sunshine Protection Act. That time, the House failed to act before the congressional session ended. Now the House has acted, and the Senate is the chamber standing in the way.
During Trump’s first term, versions of the legislation were introduced in 2018 and 2019. Trump expressed support for making daylight saving time permanent, but neither bill reached his desk. After winning another term, Trump again called upon Congress to stop the twice-yearly clock changes.
That brings us to the same Washington problem Americans see over and over: Plenty of promises, plenty of press conferences and very little urgency after the cameras are turned off.
Most people agree that changing the clocks twice every year should end. The disagreement concerns which time should become permanent.
Supporters of permanent daylight saving time want additional evening sunlight for families, businesses and outdoor activities. Opponents argue that permanent standard time is healthier and would prevent children from traveling to school in darkness during winter mornings.
That debate deserves to be heard. What Americans do not deserve is silence.
The House debated the proposal and voted. The Senate should do the same. Senators can support it, oppose it or amend it, but they should not hide from the question by allowing the bill to collect dust in a committee.
The public should also understand what the legislation would do. It would establish daylight saving time as the nation’s permanent standard while allowing states already exempt from daylight saving time, including Hawaii and most of Arizona, to remain on standard time.
Until the Senate passes the House bill and Trump signs it, Americans must continue changing their clocks under current federal law.
Jeff Sullivan asked where we are on this issue. Here is the honest answer: We are waiting on the United States Senate — again.
The House has done its part. President Trump has made his support known. John Thune and the Senate now need to stop wasting time and call the vote.
Americans are tired of changing their clocks, and they are even more tired of watching Congress refuse to finish what it starts.
Stay informed. Stay engaged. And never stop asking questions.
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