US clocks fall back Sunday 1 November, two days before the midterm elections

Mixed · 2Daylight saving time ends in the US at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, 1 November 2026, when most of the country sets clocks back an hour and gains an hour of sleep. 1 2 Mixed · 2Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe daylight saving time. The Navajo Nation in Arizona does observe it, and CBS News adds that US territories including Guam and Puerto Rico also do not. 2 1 Left · 1CBS News gives Boston as an example: on Saturday the sun will rise at 7:16 a.m. and set at 5:39 p.m., and on Sunday sunrise will be at 6:17 a.m. and sunset at 4:37 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. 1

Centre · 1The change falls two days before the midterm elections, which could decide control of the Senate and House. John Holbein, a University of Virginia professor of public policy, politics and education, told Newsweek that its research finds turning clocks back before Election Day reduces voting. 2 Centre · 1Holbein said the evidence points to earlier darkness rather than lost sleep as the explanation, because sunset comes an hour earlier while work schedules and poll closing times stay the same. Infrequent voters and rural voters with long commutes are most vulnerable, and states with sunset before 5 p.m., such as New Hampshire and Maine, could see the biggest impact. Holbein added that the study does not show which races will be most affected. 2 Centre · 1Holbein suggested moving the fall clock change to after Election Day. Dr. Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, said the effects of a time change on sleep can last up to seven days, so voters may still feel them on Tuesday. 2

Mixed · 2The Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide, passed the House in July and is stalled in the Senate. CBS News adds that it would let states opt out of daylight saving time before it takes effect. 2 1 Left · 1President Donald Trump supports the bill. According to CBS News, Trump accused Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas of holding it up and posted what he said was Cotton's cellphone number. Cotton replied that Congress has tried permanent daylight saving time before and reverted "once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter." 1 Mixed · 2CBS News says pending bills expire in early January when the new Congress takes office, so if the bill dies the process must restart in both chambers. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends permanent standard time over permanent daylight saving time because it better aligns with natural circadian rhythms. 1 2

Left · 1CBS News gives background: the US first adopted daylight saving time in 1918 to conserve fuel. Congress set a uniform start and end in 1966, and a 2005 law moved the end date from the last Sunday of October to the first Sunday of November from 2007. Daylight saving time will start again on Sunday, 14 March 2027. 1 Mixed · 2Both outlets give adjustment tips: CBS says phones set to update automatically should change overnight and notes that parents of young children may see disrupted sleep, and Abbasi-Feinberg urges consistent bedtimes and wake times, morning sunlight and at least seven hours of sleep. 1 2