When does time change? Why we spring forward for Daylight saving time
Will Trump end Daylight Saving Time?
In less than a month, Americans will lose an hour of sleep when daylight saving time begins on Sunday, March 9, 2025.
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- Daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.
- Most of the United States observes daylight saving time except for Hawaii and Arizona.
- The idea of getting rid of Daylight Saving Time has been proposed but not enacted.
It’s once again time to spring forward this weekend as millions of Americans will change their clocks and get that extra hour of sunlight in the evenings.
Annually, 48 of 50 states participate in daylight saving time though there’s a chance the practice may be coming to an end soon. Remarks on social media from President Donald Trump indicate he wants to get rid of daylight saving time but has yet to make any attempts at doing so.
Here’s what to know about daylight saving time this year.
Why did daylight saving time start?
In this simplest explanation, World War I is to blame for daylight saving time. It started in Europe as a way to conserve fuel for electrical power. It was initially enacted in Germany and Austria and then spread to 11 other countries. The United States did not adopt it until 1918 when the first daylight saving time was held on March 30, 1918. It was so wildly unpopular that it was repealed in 1919.
Daylight saving time was again brought back during World War II. One of the biggest issues here was that it was not regulated by the federal government, and states and localities were all on different schedules. This schedule lasted from 1945 to 1966
The Uniform Time Act of 1966 set specific dates for when daylight saving was supposed to happen. It was to start on the last Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October. States could pass laws to not participate if they chose.
Daylight saving as we know it today came about after the turn of the century. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended daylight saving time to begin on the second Sunday of March and end on the first Sunday of November.
What does it mean to ‘spring forward, fall back?’
Each year on the second Sunday in March, people across the country “spring” or set their clocks forward one hour thus “losing” one hour of sleep and resulting in more daylight in the evening.
On the first Sunday in November, clocks are set back one hour to “fall back,” thus gaining an hour of sleep. Sunrise and sunset will be about one hour earlier the following morning than the day before, resulting in more light in the morning.
When does daylight saving time end?
Since 2005, daylight saving time has started on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.
In 2025, daylight saving time, DST, begins on Sunday, Mar. 9 and will end on Sunday, Nov. 2.
On Sunday, Mar. 9, the sun will rise at 7:18 a.m. and set at 7:03 p.m.
What states participate in Daylight Saving Time?
Hawaii and Arizona are the only two states that don’t participate in daylight saving time.
Hawaii observes Hawaiian Standard Time (HST) all year and most of Arizona observes Mountain Standard Time (MST).
The U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands also don’t observe daylight saving time.
Is the U.S. getting rid of Daylight Saving Time?
In 2022, the Senate approved bipartisan legislation on unanimous consent to make daylight standard time permanent ‒ and keep the later sunsets ‒ but it stalled in the House, reported USA TODAY.
In December 2024, then President-elect Donald Trump expressed interest in eliminating daylight saving time, drawing support from Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Trump called the practice “inconvenient” and “very costly to our nation” in a social media post.
“The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
