AP reported that the upcoming weekend’s U.S. clock change—set for 2 a.m. Sunday in most states—will skip ahead by an hour and effectively shorten the day to 23 hours, a shift the report said has prompted widespread complaints about sleep and early-morning routines.
The push to change the system is taking shape even though, as AP reported, polling suggests many people dislike the twice-a-year clock changes. The report described a “deep divide” over how to fix it, with some advocates arguing for year-round daylight saving time and others saying the country should stay on standard time permanently.
An AP-NORC poll cited by AP found that about 1 in 10 U.S. adults favor the current system of changing clocks twice a year. AP said about half oppose that approach, and some 4 in 10 do not have an opinion; when respondents were asked to choose, AP reported that most Americans prefer making daylight saving time permanent rather than standard time.
The debate also runs through personal accounts and arguments about daily life. AP described a health care worker in New York, Genie Lauren, who said she spends winters “white-knuckling it” until the sun is up later enough for her to feel like doing activities outside her apartment after work. Lauren told AP, “The majority of the year we’re in daylight savings time,” and added, “What are we doing this for?”
The dispute over “fixing it” has a longer policy history than just the current clock-switching schedule. AP said the U.S. has tinkered with the clock intermittently since railroads standardized time zones in 1883, and it noted that many other places have used daylight saving time at various points, with about half of countries currently having it.
States have moved faster than federal lawmakers, but full changes still depend on Congress. AP reported that since 2018, 19 states—including much of the South and a block of states in the northwestern U.S.—have adopted laws calling for a move to permanent daylight saving time. The report said the catch is that Congress would need to pass a law allowing states to go to full-time daylight saving time, a framework that AP said was previously in place nationwide during World War II and for a brief period in 1974.
AP said the Senate passed a bill in 2022 to move to permanent daylight saving time, while a similar House bill has not been brought to a vote. The report attributed one reason to a lawmaker who said the airline industry has opposed the change because it adds scheduling complexity. AP reported that Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican from Alabama who introduces such a bill each term, has pointed to the airlines as a factor, and it said Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, has proposed splitting the difference by moving clocks only 30 minutes.
Supporters of permanent standard time emphasize morning light and health outcomes. AP said Karin Johnson, vice president of the advocacy group Save Standard Time and a professor of neurology at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, argued that permanent standard time—when the sun would be closer to overhead near noon—would help students and drivers function better year-round. Johnson told AP, “Morning light is what’s really critical for setting our circadian rhythms each day.” AP also reported that Kenneth Wright, a professor and director of the Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory at the University of Colorado, said the risk of fatal crashes as well as heart attacks and strokes increases in the days after clock changes; Wright told AP, “Based on the evidence for our health and well-being and safety, the best option for us as a country now is to choose to go to permanent standard time.”
For now, obstacles appear to be keeping change from landing nationwide quickly. AP reported that, among U.S. states, only Arizona—excluding the Navajo Nation—and Hawaii currently opt out of daylight saving time. It said that in the last two years, about half a dozen states have adopted bills to switch to permanent standard time in one legislative chamber, including Virginia in February, where an AP said a House committee recommended dropping the issue until 2027.
AP said many bills for permanent standard time include “caveats” that the change would only take effect if neighboring states also make the switch, citing broadcaster concerns about schedule confusion as one example. AP also reported that such regional coordination would not resolve opposition from the golf industry, which AP said opposes full-time standard time because it would make it harder for people to get in a round in the evening.
The report also described an approach that would require federal action to end the twice-a-year clock switch. AP said Scott Yates, a Colorado man who runs the website Lock the Clock, wants Congress to pass a law within two years ending the seasonal changes and requiring states to commit to either daylight saving or standard time. Yates told AP that while the changes persist, employers should adjust schedules, saying, “If you’re the boss, tell all your employees on Monday that they can come in an hour later,” and, “And if you aren’t the boss, tell your boss that you think you should[ ] be in an hour later on Monday. Sleep in for safety.”
AP also included a correction to its earlier wording, saying the correction reflected that many people, not most, dislike the twice-a-year changing of clocks for daylight saving time, according to the AP-NORC poll.