As the House prepares to vote on a Senate-passed spending bill with provisions to ban consumable hemp products, one GOP representative’s final push to strike the prohibition language has failed. At the same time, a Democratic senator says Congress should take the one-year before its implementation to develop a regulatory framework to preserve legal access to certain hemp products.
Ahead of the Senate vote on Monday, Sen. Paul Rand (R-KY) tried to eliminate language championed by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to prohibit hemp products containing THC. But while he was joined by 22 Democrats and, notably, anti-marijuana Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in voting against a motion to table the amendment, the majority ultimately quashed it.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) then took up the mantle, filing an amendment mirroring Paul’s ahead of House consideration of the appropriations package.
It was not made in order for floor consideration by the House Rules Committee, however.
The prospects of its adoption were dubious at best, as there’s generally consensus within the Republican caucus that the spending bill should advance without further modifications that would send it back to the Senate, renewing the risk that it’d face additional delays in getting to the president’s desk and putting an end to an ongoing government shutdown.
Indeed, none of the other 85 amendments on separate topics filed before the committee were allowed to advance either.
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