Most of the U.S. will fall back one hour at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of November 2026, ending daylight saving time and giving millions of Americans an extra hour of sleep. The clock change comes after Halloween and shifts the country back to standard time for the darker months ahead.
For people searching when does time go back, the answer is that the change happens overnight, not at sunrise or sunset. In Boston, the sun will rise at 7:16 a.m. and set at 5:39 p.m. on Saturday before the switch, then rise at 6:17 a.m. and set at 4:37 p.m. on Sunday after it, a one-hour shift that moves daylight out of the evening and into the morning.
Daylight saving time runs from March to early November, when most of the U.S. stays one hour ahead of standard time. The country returns to standard time in the fall and winter, when the days are shorter. That basic cycle has been around in some form for more than a century, but the rules have changed several times as Congress has revisited the clock change.
The U.S. first adopted daylight saving time in 1918 during World War I. Congress later repealed the switch after World War I but left states the option to keep observing it. During World War II and the 1970s energy crisis, Congress brought year-round daylight saving time to the U.S., and it did not establish a uniform start and end until 1966.
That history is back in play because the Sunshine Protection Act passed the House in July and went to the Senate earlier this year. The measure would let states opt out of daylight saving time altogether before the law takes effect, but it has not advanced in the Senate. The legislation, along with other bills awaiting approval in Congress, is set to expire in early January when the new class of lawmakers takes office.
Tom Cotton has argued in favor of ending the clock change, saying Americans once experienced absurdly late sunrises in winter. That is the core debate behind the bill now: whether the country keeps moving the clocks twice a year, or settles the question before early January closes the door on this session. For now, the next fixed moment is simple enough. Most of the U.S. will fall back one hour at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of November, and the Senate still has not acted on the plan that could change it for good.
