If you're a regular reader of news outlets like this one, you've probably seen this headline before: This could be the last time you set your clocks back for daylight saving time.
Daylight saving time ends Sunday morning in 2026, and yes, the twice-yearly ritual of changing clocks could eventually come to an end. Whether that will actually happen remains uncertain.
Almost all Americans, except those in Hawaii, most of Arizona and U.S. territories, will need to set their clocks back one hour. Many electronic devices, including televisions, computers and smartphones, will adjust automatically. Non-digital clocks will need to be reset manually.
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President Donald Trump has said he supports making daylight saving time permanent. Under that approach, clocks would move forward in March and remain there year-round.
Such a change would not affect sunrise and sunset times during the spring, summer and early fall. However, from early November through March, sunrises and sunsets would occur an hour later.
In July, the Sunshine Protection Act passed the House by a 308-117 vote. The bill would make daylight saving time permanent.
A 2025 AP-NORC poll found that most Americans oppose changing clocks twice a year. Only 12% of respondents support the current system of setting clocks back in November and forward in March. Forty-seven percent oppose the changes, while 40% are neutral.
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If Americans do not want to change their clocks, would they prefer permanent daylight saving time or permanent standard time?
It depends on whom you ask.
Overall, 56% of respondents prefer permanent daylight saving time, compared with 44% who favor permanent standard time. Among self-described morning people, however, standard time holds a slight edge, with 50% support compared with 49% for daylight saving time.
The Senate has until the end of the year to take up the Sunshine Protection Act before House approval expires.
If the Sunshine Protection Act becomes law, some places, including Indianapolis, would see sunrise times later than 9 a.m. around Christmas.
One complication is a growing push from sleep scientists to make standard time permanent. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine supports the Sunshine for Our Kids Act. Like the Sunshine Protection Act, the proposal would eliminate the twice-yearly clock changes. The difference is that it would make standard time permanent by ending daylight saving time, causing sunrises and sunsets to occur an hour earlier during the warmer months.
