Late on the last night of October, as the country's pumpkins begin to soften and the leaves turn toward bare branches, most Americans will quietly turn back their clocks at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2026, reclaiming an hour lost in March and returning to standard time. It is a small ritual with a long and uneven past, one that began as a wartime measure to save fuel and has been argued over ever since. Whether this twice-yearly shuffle will survive is now a question for a Congress that has only weeks left before its terms expire.
Clocks Fall Back This Weekend: What to Know as Daylight Saving Time Ends for 2026
The time won't change until Sunday, after Halloween ends.
Mark
So the clocks change Sunday at 2 a.m. Why does this get so much attention every year?
Mimi
Because it touches everyone's sleep at once. People gain an hour, but parents of young kids may spend days getting their children's schedules back in line.
Mark
And the light shifts noticeably, right?
Mimi
In Boston, sunset moves from 5:39 p.m. Saturday to 4:37 p.m. Sunday, and sunrise from 7:16 to 6:17 a.m. Same day length, different placement.
Luke
Worth noting those are Boston figures from the National Weather Service. Other places will differ.
Mark
Then there's the Sunshine Protection Act. Where does it stand?
Mimi
It cleared a major hurdle earlier this year, but it still needs Senate action before early January, when pending bills expire with the new Congress.
Luke
Cleared a hurdle isn't passed. The reporting doesn't say whether the Senate has the votes or a scheduled vote.
Mark
Trump supports it and clashed with Sen. Tom Cotton over it.
Mimi
Yes. Cotton's argument is historical: permanent daylight saving time was tried before and reversed over very late winter sunrises.
Luke
That's Cotton's characterization of past experience. The article gives the 1970s attempt ending before 10 months, but doesn't detail why beyond that.
Mark
So what's unresolved?
Mimi
Whether the bill survives past January. If not, it starts over in both chambers.
El Pulso
- At 2 a.m. Sunday, clocks across most of the country roll back an hour, and the hour lost in March returns to millions of sleepers.
- The tension lives in Washington, where the Sunshine Protection Act for permanent daylight saving time cleared a major hurdle but still stalls in the Senate.
- President Trump is publicly pressing the bill, and Sen. Tom Cotton is resisting it, with the dispute spilling out into a sharp public feud.
- Time is running short: pending bills lapse in early January, and if this one dies, its supporters must start the entire process over.
- For now, the clocks change on schedule, with Arizona, Hawaii and several U.S. territories standing apart, and the next marker is set for January.
Late on the last night of October, as the country's pumpkins begin to soften and the leaves turn toward bare branches, most Americans will quietly turn back their clocks at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2026, reclaiming an hour lost in March and returning to standard time. It is a small ritual with a long and uneven past, one that began as a wartime measure to save fuel and has been argued over ever since. Whether this twice-yearly shuffle will survive is now a question for a Congress that has only weeks left before its terms expire.
At 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, most of the country will turn its clocks back an hour, ending daylight saving time for the year. Those who have been staying up late on Halloween get an extra hour to celebrate or to recover, and parents of small children may find the shift less welcome until their kids' sleep settles again. The change is most visible in the light itself. In Boston, sunset on Saturday falls at 5:39 p.m., while on Sunday the sun sets at 4:37 p.m., and mornings grow brighter as the dark arrives earlier.
The practice has a checkered past. The United States adopted daylight saving time in 1918 to conserve fuel during World War I, repealed it after the war, and later reimposed it during World War II and the 1970s energy crisis, each time without lasting success. Congress finally set a uniform schedule in 1966, and the current dates date from a 2005 law that took effect in 2007.
Now the question is whether the clocks will keep changing at all. The Sunshine Protection Act would make daylight saving time permanent and allow states to opt out. President Trump supports it, while Sen. Tom Cotton argues that Americans have already experienced the problem of late winter sunrises. With pending legislation expiring in early January, the bill's future is uncertain, and its supporters may have to begin again if it lapses.
For most people, though, the change is simple. Phones should adjust on their own, and Arizona, Hawaii and several U.S. territories will keep their clocks where they are.
At 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, Nov. 1, most of the country will turn its clocks back an hour, ending daylight saving time for 2026. Millions of Americans gain an hour of sleep, making up for the hour lost when the clocks sprang forward in March. The change does not happen on Saturday; it waits for the overnight hours after Halloween.
The timing carries a small seasonal irony. Revelers at late-night costume parties get an extra hour to enjoy themselves, or an extra hour to recover. Parents of young children may find it less of a treat, since the shift can disrupt kids' sleep schedules until they adjust.
The practical effect shows up in the sunrise and sunset tables. In Boston on Saturday, before the change, the National Weather Service expects sunrise at 7:16 a.m. and sunset at 5:39 p.m. On Sunday, back on standard time, the sun rises at 6:17 a.m. and sets at 4:37 p.m. Daylight saving time pushes an hour of light from the morning into the evening during the spring and summer, when days are longest. In fall and winter, standard time brings daylight earlier in the morning.
The practice has a long, uneven history. According to the Congressional Research Service, the U.S. adopted daylight saving time in 1918, during World War I, to conserve fuel, after Europe had made its own time change. Congress repealed it after the war but let states keep observing it. Congress again imposed year-round daylight saving time during World War II and the 1970s energy crisis, each time to reduce energy use, and neither experiment lasted long. The 1970s version was stopped before it reached the 10-month mark. In between, states and municipalities chose for themselves whether and when to observe it, until Congress set a uniform start and end in 1966.
The current dates come from a 2005 law that took effect in 2007. It moved the end of daylight saving time from the last Sunday of October to the first Sunday of November, and moved the start from the first Sunday of April to the second Sunday of March. Next year the clocks spring forward on Sunday, March 14, at 2 a.m. local time. That is a late date for the second Sunday because March 2027 begins on a Monday.
Whether the clock changes continue is an open question in Washington. Earlier this year, the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent, cleared a major congressional hurdle. The bill would also let states opt out of daylight saving time altogether before the law takes effect. President Trump supports it. He accused a fellow Republican, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, of blocking it, posted what he said was Cotton's cellphone number, and urged people to call the senator in support. Cotton answered that Congress has tried permanent daylight saving time before and returned to twice-yearly changes "once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter."
Time is short for the bill. It and other pending legislation expire in early January, when the class of lawmakers elected in Tuesday's election takes office. If it dies, the effort must start over and pass both the House and Senate before reaching the president.
Not everyone changes clocks. Every state observes daylight saving time except Arizona and Hawaii. The Navajo Nation, which lies partly in Arizona, does observe it, to stay in step with its communities in neighboring New Mexico and Utah. American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands also skip it. Phones set to update automatically should adjust overnight. Apple, Google and Samsung publish instructions for changing device clocks, and carriers such as Simple Mobile and Straight Talk have posted steps for checking settings. The next marker is early January, when the Sunshine Protection Act either gets a Senate vote or lapses.
Citas Notables
Congress has tried permanent daylight saving time before and reverted "once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter."— Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
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