Millions of Americans will gain an extra hour of sleep as daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 1, 2026. Clocks will fall back one hour to 1 a.m., returning much of the country to standard time while a federal bill to make the changes permanent remains stalled in the U.S. Senate.
The transition arrives under familiar rules. Since 2007, daylight saving time has ended on the first Sunday of November, bringing darker evenings and earlier sunrises across Alabama, Georgia, and the rest of the nation. Most smartphones, computers, and internet-connected devices will update automatically, though older clocks, vehicle dashboards, and appliances will require manual adjustment.
The Stalled Sunshine Protection Act and the Congressional Divide
Despite public frustration with twice-yearly clock changes, federal efforts to lock the time have hit a legislative wall. The House of Representatives passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025, also known as H.R. 139, by a vote of 308-117 on July 14, 2026. The bill was received by the Senate the following day and referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, where it has since stalled.
President Donald Trump has expressed strong support for ending the shifts. On October 26, 2026, he posted on Truth Social that the measure costs our Country a fortune, is bad for Crime, stress on people, Sports, and just about everything else you can imagine.
Trump also accused a fellow Republican, Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, of holding up the legislation.
Cotton noted Congress has tried permanent daylight saving time before, only to go back to the twice-yearly time change “once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed similar doubts, telling Politico that there was no clear path forward
for the legislation.
Health Tradeoffs and Sleep Adjustments
While gaining an hour of sleep provides a welcome reset for many adults, health professionals warn that time changes carry physiological costs. Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine explained that the shift to shorter days and longer nights can disrupt circadian rhythms and leave individuals feeling fatigued.
If you want to help improve that fatigue, that lethargy that might be kicking in, look at what you can do to maximize your time outdoors. Maybe invest in one of those daylight clocks in order to have some level of sunlight, whether it’s natural or mimicked, to help offset those nocturnal hours that are going to sneak up on us, shortening our days.
Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
For parents of young children, the adjustment can be particularly disruptive as sleep schedules shift. Sleep researchers generally agree that altering time twice a year disrupts human circadian rhythms, though medical organizations remain divided on whether permanent daylight saving time is the answer.
State Laws Waiting on Federal Authorization
Several states have attempted to take matters into their own hands, passing legislation that cannot take effect without congressional sign-off. In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp signed a permanent daylight saving time bill five years ago, but the measure remains inactive without federal authorization. Nineteen states in total have pursued similar permanent shifts.
Under current federal rules, states are permitted to opt out entirely and observe permanent standard time—as Hawaii and most of Arizona already do—but they cannot independently adopt year-round daylight saving time. If the current federal bill fails to clear the Senate before the 119th Congress ends on January 3, 2027, the legislative process must restart from the beginning.
Return to Standard Time Across Time Zones
As standard time settles in, sunset times will pull back significantly across the United States. In regions observing Eastern Standard Time, including major Georgia cities such as Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta, Athens, and Columbus, evening darkness will arrive roughly an hour earlier.
Under the established calendar, standard time will remain in place for several months. Clocks are scheduled to spring forward again on Sunday, March 14, 2027, when the nation returns to daylight saving time unless Congress acts beforehand.
Worth a look