Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is objecting to the spending bill that would reopen the government over a provision that would essentially ban hemp-derived THC products.
The provision would redefine legal hemp in a way that allows the government to ban its use or sale. The Senate on Monday overrode an amendment Paul had filed to remove the language and now the bill will go to the House with the provision intact.
From The Hill:
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Monday morning there is only one “objector” to speeding up Senate consideration of the government funding package, referring to Paul, who wants to strip a provision from the package that would prevent the unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp-based products.
Paul said he’s just doing his job by standing up for Kentucky’s hemp industry. He argued he’s fully entitled under the Senate rules to use all the procedural time at his disposal to scrutinize the government funding package — which he opposes.
“Just to be clear: I am not delaying this bill. The timing is already fixed under Senate procedure. But there is extraneous language in this package that has nothing to do with reopening the government and would harm Kentucky’s hemp farmers and small businesses,” Paul said in a statement posted on the social platform X.
“Standing up for Kentucky jobs is part of my job,” he wrote.
Paul wants to strip out language from the bill funding the Department of Agriculture that would ban the unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp-based or hemp-derived products, such as Delta-8, from being sold online or at gas stations and corner stores. The deal the Senate advanced Sunday includes full-year funding bills for military construction, veterans’ affairs, the Department of Agriculture and the legislative branch.
Just to be clear: I am not delaying this bill. The timing is already fixed under Senate procedure. But there is extraneous language in this package that has nothing to do with reopening the government and would harm Kentucky’s hemp farmers and small businesses.
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) November 10, 2025
Standing up for… pic.twitter.com/dp5E9vKUbi
Currently, federal law allows the sale of hemp-derived THC products if they contain less than 0.3 percent total THC. The language in the provision is similar to one McConnell pushed into the agriculture funding bill back in July. It would ban most of these products, limiting them to 0.4 milligrams per container, which would eliminate any intoxicating effects.
A spokesperson for Sen. Paul told The Hill that the lawmaker “objects to the inclusion of provisions in the government-funding package that unfairly target Kentucky’s hemp industry” and that the provision is “unrelated to the budget and the government-reopening goal.”
The Hill noted that advocates aligned with the beer, wine and distilled spirits lobbied hard to convince lawmakers to rejected Paul’s amendment.
A coalition of advocates for the beer, wine, and distilled spirits industry circulated a letter to senators Monday, urging them to defeat Paul’s amendment. In a letter circulated among Senate Republicans, they called on them to “reject Sen. Paul’s attempts to allow hemp-derived THC products to be sold devoid of federal regulation and oversight across the country.”
Now that the bill is with the House, there is a chance the provision could be removed. House Republicans, including Rep. James Comer (R-KY) back in September led a bipartisan effort to oppose the anti-hemp language from the latest agriculture-FDA appropriations bills. “Under the 2018 Farm Bill language, the hemp industry supports 320,000 American jobs, generates $28.4 billion in regulated market activity, and produces some $1.5 billion in state tax revenue,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
Editor’s Note: After more than 40 days of screwing Americans, a few Dems have finally caved. The Schumer Shutdown was never about principle—just inflicting pain for political points.
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