The debate between Standard and Daylight Saving Time rages as experts weigh the health threats.
Americans will again change their clocks on March 9, setting them one hour ahead to observe Daylight Saving Time in a yearly cyclical pattern that experts say leads to more car accidents, heart attacks, and strokes.
Efforts are underway to stop this process. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is touting a bipartisan effort known as the “Sunshine Protection Act,” which would make Daylight Saving Time the national year-round standard.
In 2023, Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) and then-Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) launched similar legislation under the same name. Rubio’s bill passed through the Senate, but Buchanan’s version stalled in the House.
Those efforts, or some version of them, may now come to fruition under the new administration.
President Donald Trump said in December 2024 that the Republican Party “will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time … [which] is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.”
That move, unlike Congress’ efforts, would make Standard Time permanent, which is what Americans experience from November through March after setting their clocks back one hour.
While that would retain the exceedingly early winter evenings that many criticize, it would still mean an end to the time changes, which experts cite as the primary health and safety risk.
Elon Musk, who Trump tapped to helm his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), polled users on the social platform X, asking Americans if the time changes are canceled, would they prefer clocks to be set “an hour earlier,” retaining Standard Time, or “an hour later,” which would keep Daylight Saving Time year-round.
Of more than one million users polled, 58.1 percent said they’d prefer clocks to stay one hour ahead, versus 41.9 percent who said one hour behind.
While most of the nation participates in Daylight Saving Time, Hawaii and parts of Arizona opt out, according to the Transportation Department.
The U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands also do not participate.
America’s Second Attempt at Ending DST
If the Trump administration succeeds in ending the time switch, it won’t be the first time for the United States.
Daylight Saving Time began more than a century ago and was used throughout both world wars as a cost-saving measure, where adding additional daylight hours helped conserve energy.
By Jacob Burg
