The countdown to the start of daylight saving time in the United States has begun, and an open debate about its effectiveness has once again erupted on the internet. As established by the Uniform Time Act of 1966, the clocks will spring forward 60 minutes on Sunday, March 8, and will remain unchanged until November 1 of this year. For decades, the national time has been set back or moved forward according to the seasons and under the argument of promoting energy savings. However, the debate over its application has been brewing for decades.
It began as a wartime practice during World War II, then stopped, but was reinstated in 1966 when Congress created the Department of Transportation. In 1974, it was officially enacted in an attempt to reduce energy consumption due to an oil embargo, but the measure was so unpopular that it was repealed that same year, although it was soon reinstated.
Currently, two groups of lawmakers in Washington agree that changing the time is an outdated and unnecessary measure, but they have different approaches. President Trump expressed his support for eliminating it at the end of 2024 (a few weeks before taking office for his second term) in a message posted on his social media platform, Truth Social. In his words, “it is very costly” for the country. On the president’s side, a group of lawmakers advocates keeping the clock unchanged throughout the year, but they face opposition from another group that seeks to continue benefiting from energy savings. This argument has been widely criticized, with critics pointing out that the time change causes sleep disorders in the population, more car accidents, and forces children to walk to school in the dark.
Since 2015, some 30 states have debated or passed laws to end daylight saving time, and some have even maintained it if neighboring territories do the same. In October of last year, the U.S. Senate resumed discussions to make it permanent but again stalled before reaching a consensus.
In 2026, Republican Utah Representative Celeste Maloy reintroduced the Daylight Act to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which seeks to give states the freedom to adopt daylight saving time permanently, eliminating the need to adjust clocks twice a year. For his part, Florida Representative Greg Steube, also a Republican, introduced another bill proposing that the clock be moved forward only half an hour and that time changes be ended. While the congressman is seeking a compromise solution to the issue, its approval seems unlikely due to the implications it would have for the transportation system and businesses.
In December 2007, Venezuela became the only country in the Americas to set its clocks back half an hour to “socialize electricity.” The measure was a whim of the late former President Hugo Chávez, who lacked valid arguments for its implementation. It was reversed in 2016 after nearly a decade of unsuccessful results.
