Overview
- The House passed the Sunshine Protection Act on July 14 and the bill now sits in the Senate, which is scheduled to be in recess until Sept. 14, making a vote before the Nov. 1 clock rollback unlikely without expedited floor action.
- President Donald Trump publicly pressed senators on Aug. 4 to approve permanent daylight saving time, urging the change to stop twice‑yearly clock shifts and highlighting benefits such as more evening daylight.
- Longstanding federal studies find only tiny national energy gains from year‑round DST, with a 1970s Department of Transportation estimate of about 0.4%–1.5% savings and a 2007 Department of Energy estimate near 0.03%.
- Health and sleep experts say the twice‑yearly shifts harm circadian rhythms and recommend permanent standard time rather than year‑round DST to protect morning light and public health.
- Adopting permanent DST would shift winter sunrises much later in some places—for example near 8:40–9:00 a.m. in parts of South Carolina—raising safety, school start, religious observance and scheduling concerns while industries like golf argue the change could boost evening economic activity by about $1 billion annually.