Most of the U.S. will ask when does the time change this weekend, and the answer is 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of November, when clocks fall back one hour as daylight saving time ends for 2026. Millions of Americans will gain an extra hour of sleep, while sunrise and sunset times shift earlier the next day.
Boston on Saturday and Sunday
Boston shows the change in concrete numbers. Before the switch, sunrise is set for 7:16 a.m. and sunset for 5:39 p.m. on Saturday. After the clocks move back, sunrise becomes 6:17 a.m. and sunset 4:37 p.m. on Sunday.
Sunshine Protection Act in the Senate
The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House in July and went to the Senate, where it would let states opt out of daylight saving time altogether before the law takes effect. Donald Trump supports the bill and urged people to call Tom Cotton, while Cotton of Arkansas said Congress has tried permanent daylight saving time before and then returned to the twice-yearly time change once Americans experienced “once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter.”
Congress and early January
The U.S. first adopted daylight saving time in 1918 during World War I. Congress later repealed the clock switch after World War I but let states keep observing it, then brought year-round daylight saving time back during World War II and the 1970s energy crisis before establishing a uniform start and end in 1966.
The practical question now is whether the Senate acts before early January, when the current bills awaiting approval expire as the new class of lawmakers elected in Tuesday's midterm elections takes office. If the Senate does not move, the effort to change the system has to start over.
