(CNN) — The US House voted last week in strong bipartisan fashion to enact year-round Daylight Saving Time across the country. But it faces strong headwinds in the Senate, with one key Republican senator warning the bill won’t “see the light of day.”
Here’s what we know about what’s next:
Some Republicans oppose push for permanent Daylight Saving Time
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas is among the most vocal opponents of moving towards year-round Daylight Saving Time, and has vowed to block any proponents’ efforts to quickly approve the bill on the floor through a process known as unanimous consent, which requires all 100 senators to agree to an expedited vote.
There are plenty of other senators like Cotton who oppose the bill, and warn that a later sunrise would endanger children who could be forced to commute to school in the dark.
GOP leaders will be wary of using up valuable floor time on an issue that might not overcome the 60-vote threshold it’ll need to advance.
Sen. Steve Daines of Montana told CNN there may be enough opposition, particularly from Western states like his, that, “I don’t think, to use a pun, it’ll see the light of day” on the Senate floor.
“I can see where Florida likes it for tee times at certain times of the year, but it doesn’t work so well for moms and dads putting kids on buses when the sunrise in Western Montana wouldn’t be ‘till 9:30 in the morning. It’s not going to work for us,” Daines said.
Opponents of the change contend the shift wouldn’t just endanger school kids, but also workers – like construction crews, farmers, factory hands – who would have to report to their jobs in the dark.
Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa told CNN, “I can tell you about my personal feelings, and it doesn’t indicate how I’m going to vote, but I’m irritated every time I change my clock.”
“I haven’t heard anything from my constituents on it, so I can’t tell you,” he said, noting that he remains undecided on whether there should be permanent Daylight Saving Time.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott is actively pushing for the bill’s passage, saying he has been in conversations with the White House and his Republican colleagues to secure support for the bill.
“It was a bill I passed when I was governor … So I’m very adamant… We want Daylight Saving. I’m working it,” he said.
He added: “so I’m optimistic that it’s going to pass.”
What Senate GOP leaders have said about the bill
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who represents South Dakota, would not rule out bringing the bill to a vote when pressed by reporters last week – even though in the past, he opposed a similar push to adopt Daylight Saving Time year round.
He told reporters at the Capitol he believes the House bill provides optionality for states who use permanent standard time. The bill allows states to buck the switch to daylight saving time, so long as they adopt permanent standard time before it takes effect. Residents in Hawaii, much of Arizona, and other US territories all observe permanent standard time.
“I think the main concern is that there’s optionality for states, and my understanding is that’s in the House bill. I just don’t think we want a mandate and that was tried once before and repealed,” he said. “But you know, we’re looking at it. You know, the House had a big vote. There’s a lot of interest in it from members on our side over here. Some for, some against.”
Asked if it can get the necessary 60 votes to break a filibuster, Thune said that “remains to be seen.” He added “that’s not an issue that we’ve really probed much yet.”
When asked if he would support the measure, Thune would only note he comes from a “northern” climate and that he opposed a similar measure when it was voted on in the Senate Commerce committee last April.
Congress has taken up issue before
Congress has moved before to make Daylight Saving Time permanent. It adopted a measure in the 1970s, as the US was experiencing an energy crisis, but swiftly reversed course amid deep unpopularity.
In 2022, senators passed a version of a Daylight Saving Time bill through swift action on the floor – facing no objections from their colleagues. It did not get a floor vote in the House.
Cotton later revealed he would have blocked that effort, and vowed to object to any future efforts to pass that kind of legislation quickly on the floor.
In 2025, a bipartisan group of senators sought unanimous consent to pass a bill to enact daylight saving year round, but were thwarted by Cotton.
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