The House just voted 308-117 to end the twice-yearly clock change that studies link to hundreds of deaths and $275 million in annual social costs — but a few senators are poised to block the most popular bill in America from ever getting a vote.
This is bipartisan paralysis at its purest. A measure that clear majorities of Americans support, that the president backs, that passed the House with broad support from both parties, and that the Senate already approved by unanimous consent in 2022, is now stalled because a handful of senators don't want to deal with the political fallout of dark winter mornings. The bill isn't dying on substance. It's dying on procedural cowardice.
The Sunshine Protection Act would make Daylight Saving Time permanent nationwide, ending the biannual clock swap. States currently on year-round Standard Time — Arizona and Hawaii — would be unaffected. Nineteen states have already passed measures to lock the clock, waiting on Congress to untie their hands. Under current federal law, passed in 1966, states can opt out of DST but cannot opt in for the full year.
The public health case is stark. A 2014 University of Colorado study found the biannual time switch correlated with more than 300 deaths over a decade from auto accidents, heart attacks, and stress. A 2012 University of Alabama at Birmingham study showed a 10% increase in heart attacks on the Monday and Tuesday after spring-forward. Finnish research found an 8% higher stroke risk during those same days. The social cost amounts to $275 million annually, according to a study published in the American Economics Journal.
Polling is unambiguous. A 2025 AP-NORC poll found 56% of Americans prefer permanent DST. A CBS News poll found just 21% want to keep the current system of switching. Even the dissenters mostly prefer permanent Standard Time — not the status quo.
So why is the Senate balking?
In 2022, the Senate passed a virtually identical bill by unanimous consent. The House never brought it up. Now the roles are reversed. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters he would not rule out bringing the bill to a vote but flagged what he called the "main concern": the bill allows states "optionality." Thune said he doesn't want a mandate, noting a similar measure was tried in the 1970s and repealed within a year after public backlash over dark mornings.
The real roadblock is Sen. Tom Cotton. The Arkansas Republican objected to a version of the bill in 2025 and, according to a senior aide who spoke to NBC News, has the "same concerns" now — specifically that parts of the country wouldn't see sunrise until 8 a.m. or later, creating safety issues for children commuting to school in the dark. A senior aide told NBC News that Cotton would filibuster, and Senate leaders appear reluctant to burn floor time on a bill one of their own members would block.
Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota piled on, telling reporters permanent DST "won't work" in his state, where kids would go to school in the dark until 9 a.m. or 9:30 a.m. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Pennsylvania Democrat, echoed the concern from the other side: "Millions of Americans will wake up during the winter months in complete darkness with the sun not rising until long after people get up and travel to school or work or have to go about their days."
President Trump has repeatedly called on Congress to pass the act, writing on Truth Social last year: "The House and Senate should push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day. Very popular and, most importantly, no more changing of the clocks, a big inconvenience and, for our government, A VERY COSTLY EVENT!!!"
Bill sponsor Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., framed it simply: "Polling shows that two-thirds of Americans want to unlock the clock. My bill is simply a solution to make Daylight Saving Time permanent."
But simple solutions don't survive the Senate. The 1970s precedent haunts the debate. Congress passed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act in response to the oil crisis, then repealed it within a year after parents and commuters revolted over dark mornings. Opponents of the current bill point to that history. Supporters counter that fewer children walk to school now, start times have shifted later, and the country isn't living in 1974. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine still backs permanent Standard Time, arguing it better aligns with human circadian rhythms.
Here's the procedural rot: both chambers have now passed this bill — the Senate in 2022, the House this week — but never at the same time. Each body uses the other as cover for inaction. Leadership in both parties won't force a vote because a few members might catch heat from morning commuters. So a measure that would save lives, save money, and do what the vast majority of Americans want just dies.
The clock will change again this November, and again next March, and again after that — not because Americans want it to, and not because either party opposes ending it, but because nobody in the Senate has the guts to make the other side stand on the floor and filibuster in the light of day.
