(The Epoch Times)—The House Energy and Commerce Committee on May 21 advanced a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent year-round and put the current practice of changing clocks twice a year to an end.
The Sunshine Protection Act was passed in a 48–1 vote. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and was added as a provision to the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act.
“We’re one step closer to locking the clock for good,” Buchanan said in a post on X. “I’m grateful to [President Donald Trump]—with his support, I’m confident we can finally get this across the finish line.”
Buchanan said in a statement the change could help improve public health, reduce traffic accidents and crime, and encourage more outdoor activity. He has pushed for the bill’s passage since 2018.
In a Truth Social post, Trump praised the House vote on the legislation and said he would “work very hard” to have it signed into law.
“This is so important in that Hundreds of Millions of Dollars are spent every year by people, Cities, and States, being forced to change their Clocks,” the president wrote.
“It’s time that people can stop worrying about the ‘Clock,’ not to mention all of the work and money that is spent on this ridiculous, twice yearly production.”
The legislation still needs to clear the full U.S. House, after which the U.S. Senate would consider it.
In October 2025, Scott brought the bill to the Senate floor for quick passage but senators failed to reach consensus on the measure despite bipartisan support.
“This bill is about states’ rights,” Scott said at the time. “It allows the people of each state to choose what best fits their needs and the needs of their families.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) opposed the bill, saying that making daylight saving time permanent would push winter sunrises to an absurdly late hour.
“For many Arkansans, permanent Daylight Savings Time would mean the sun wouldn’t rise until after 8:00 or even 8:30 a.m. during the dead of winter.
“Three months out of the year, kids in towns like Bentonville, Fayetteville, and Fort Smith would start school ahead of the sun,” Cotton said on the Senate floor in October 2025.
Daylight saving time is the practice of setting the clocks forward one hour during the summer half of the year, which has been observed in nearly all of the United States since the 1960s.
Scott, while serving as governor of Florida in 2018, signed a bill exempting the state from the twice-annual clock change, pending approval at the federal level.
In 2022, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) cosponsored an identical bill, which passed the Senate but was never brought to a vote in the House.
Bill Pan and Reuters contributed to this report.
