Clocks fell back one hour early Sunday as daylight saving time ended across most of the United States. The change took effect at 2 a.m. local time, when clocks were turned back to 1 a.m., bringing earlier sunsets and darker evenings. In many places, the sun will set before 5 p.m. local time under the new schedule, which occurs yearly on the first Sunday in November.
In the days before the time change was set to occur, President Donald Trump complained about the annual end of daylight saving time while speaking at a rally in Mississippi on October 26. During the rally, Trump called the twice-yearly clock change "ridiculous," adding that it "drives everyone crazy." Regardless of his protest of the annual time change, clocks fell back an hour on Sunday. Daylight saving time was implemented in the U.S. in 1918 during World War I as a way to conserve fuel and maximize daylight hours.
By changing the clocks twice each year in conjunction with the seasons—time jumps forward an hour in the spring and then falls back in the autumn—more daylight moves to the evening hours during the spring and summer months, then to the morning hours during the colder months. Critics of the practice have argued for permanent standard time, which sees the sun rise earlier and set earlier to allow for more sunlight during the morning hours. Earlier this year, lawmakers advanced legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide.
The Sunshine Protection Act cleared the House on July 14 and would make DST the permanent national standard, eliminating the need to change clocks each spring and fall. The measure had support from Trump and several lawmakers, but it is currently stalled in the Senate. Under the proposal, daylight saving time would become permanent, shifting an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening during winter.
Last week, Trump pushed lawmakers to act on the measure in a post on Truth Social. "The United States Senate is letting the Daylight Saving Bill die, when a vast Majority of the Country want it," he said. "Most people are demanding light in the evening, but ALL want not to change their clocks anymore." However, while many sleep experts advocate for the elimination of daylight saving time, they do not suggest making daylight saving time permanent.
Rather, they suggest making standard time permanent. Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg told Newsweek. The only two states where clocks won't change are Hawaii and most of Arizona, which do not observe daylight saving time.
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