The House Rules Committee just voted 6-4 to advance H.R. 139, the Sunshine Protection Act, clearing the path for a full House vote on making daylight saving time permanent. That means the twice-a-year ritual of stumbling around your house at 2 a.m. resetting clocks like some kind of time-traveling handyman could finally be on its way out.
Congress agreeing on anything is news. Congress agreeing on something most Americans actually want? That's a miracle.
The bill, sponsored by Representative Vern Buchanan, a Republican from Florida, already sailed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee back in May with a 48-1 vote. One dissenter. Out of forty-nine. Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, Republican from Kentucky, noted that Americans "overwhelmingly support ending the practice," which is the kind of understatement you'd expect from a politician describing water as "generally wet." The Daily Wire reported on the bill's advancement Monday as it heads toward a full floor vote.
President Trump has backed the measure, calling the current system a "ridiculous, twice-yearly production" and permanent daylight saving time "the far more popular alternative." He urged Congress to get it done. Buchanan argued the change could "improve public health, reduce traffic accidents, and encourage outdoor activity" — and for once, the data actually backs up the talking points. A University of Colorado Boulder study found a 6% increase in fatal car crashes in the days following the spring time change. The American Heart Association has flagged similar health concerns.
The Senate passed a nearly identical version unanimously back in 2022, but it died in the House because — and this is peak Washington — nobody could agree on whether to lock in daylight saving time or standard time. The permanent-standard-time crowd, backed by various medical organizations, argues that standard time better aligns with natural circadian rhythms. Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, pushed an amendment for permanent standard time instead, warning that year-round daylight saving would force "more Americans, particularly schoolchildren, to travel in darkness during winter mornings."
It's a fair point. Congress actually tried permanent daylight saving time once before, back in 1974. Dark winter mornings proved unpopular enough that they reversed course. But that was also the era of leisure suits and the Ford administration, so we weren't exactly at peak decision-making as a nation.
About twenty states have already passed laws allowing permanent daylight saving time adoption — they're just waiting on federal permission to pull the trigger. Hawaii and most of Arizona already skip the whole clock-change circus entirely. They've been living in the future this whole time, and somehow the republic hasn't collapsed.
The Sunshine Protection Act, filed under the 119th Congress, gives states an opt-out if they'd rather stick with standard time. So nobody's being forced into anything. States that want the extra evening daylight get it. States that don't can sit this one out.
A 48-1 committee vote. A unanimous Senate pass four years ago. A president pushing for it. Twenty states already lined up. The only thing standing in the way is Congress's remarkable ability to fumble a ball everyone wants them to catch.
