Trump looks to end Daylight Saving Time
President-elect Donald Trump wants to bring an end to Daylight Saving Time.
WASHINGTON – Most Americans will set their clocks forward by one hour on Sunday, March 9, 2025. While we’ll lose some sleep, we’ll gain more sunlight in the evenings as the days warm into summer.
There has been much debate over the practice, but around 70 countries — approximately 40% of those worldwide — currently use what Americans call daylight saving time.
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Is it daylight saving time or daylight savings time?
It’s important to note that the correct term is daylight saving time, not daylight savings time, although it is commonly misspelled.
When does daylight saving time 2025 start?
Daylight saving time 2025 begins on Sunday, March 9. The change officially occurs at 2 a.m., when we set our clocks forward by one hour.
When does daylight saving time 2025 end?
Daylight saving time 2025 officially ends on Sunday, November 2, 2025.
How did daylight saving time get started?
What we know:
In the 1890s, New Zealand astronomer and entomologist George Vernon Hudson proposed a time shift in the spring and fall to increase daylight. In the early 1900s, British home builder William Willett, concerned that people weren’t up enjoying the morning sunlight, made a similar push. However, neither proposal gained enough traction to be implemented, according to the Associated Press.
Germany adopted daylight saving time during World War I to conserve energy. Other countries, including the United States, soon followed suit. During World War II, the U.S. implemented “war time,” making daylight saving time year-round nationwide.
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Who uses daylight saving time?
The backstory:
In 1966, the U.S. Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which allows states to either implement daylight saving time or opt out, while requiring statewide consistency. The act also mandates the start and end dates for daylight saving time across the country.
In the United States, every state except Hawaii and Arizona observes daylight saving time. Globally, Europe, much of Canada, and parts of Australia also implement it, while Russia and Asia do not.
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Could we permanently use year-round daylight saving time?
During the 1970s energy crisis, the U.S. implemented year-round daylight saving time, but it was unpopular. With the sun not rising until around 9 a.m. or later in some areas during winter, people found themselves waking up, commuting, and sending their children to school in the dark, said David Prerau, author of “Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time,” to the Associated Press.
Prerau noted that using standard time year-round would mean losing an extra hour of daylight in the evenings for eight months in the United States.
Could we permanently end daylight saving time?
What’s next:
President Donald Trump has expressed his dislike for daylight saving time. In a post on his social media site last year, Trump stated that his party would work to end the practice.
“The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation,” he wrote.
Lawmakers have occasionally proposed doing away with the time change altogether. The most prominent recent attempt, a now-stalled bipartisan bill called the Sunshine Protection Act, proposed making daylight saving time permanent.
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The Source: FOX 5 DC and the Associated Press