GOP-Led Congressional Committee Votes To Block Marijuana Rescheduling, Defying Trump
Trump Administration May Stop Pursuing Prosecutions Of Marijuana Users For Possessing Guns, Attorney General Says
Senate Committee Takes Up Veterans-Focused Psychedelics Bill, With VA Officials Expressing Concerns
Congressional Committee Wants Feds To Go After Cannabis Product Manufacturers Making Unlawful Health Claims
State-Licensed Marijuana Businesses Can Now Apply For Federal Protections Using New DEA Form
There’s ‘Strong Public Demand’ For Bigger Marijuana Reform Than Trump’s Rescheduling Move, Federally Funded Study Shows
Chinese Researchers Reveal Ancient Use Of Cannabis As ‘Indispensable’ Crop That Was ‘Deeply Integrated’ Into Daily Life
Teen Marijuana Use Is Lower Now Than Before Legalization, Government Study From Minnesota Officials Shows
Medical Marijuana Helps People Stop Using Opioids, Sleeping Aids And Other Prescription Drugs, Study Shows
Vaporizing Marijuana Reduces Harmful Inhaled Byproducts By 99% Compared To Joint Smoking, New Study Shows
Politicians And Major Brands Celebrate Cannabis Culture On 4/20
Woody Harrelson And Bill Maher Complain That Marijuana Taxes Are Too High While Smoking Joints At The Dispensary They Own Together
WNBA Offers To End Marijuana Testing For Women’s Basketball Players As Part Of Reported Deal With Union
DEA Promotes Anti-Marijuana PSA Contest Inviting Students To Warn Peers About THC Dangers On 4/20
Largest Entertainment Arena In US Partners With Cannabis Businesses To Sell THC Drinks At Concerts And Live Events
Target Expands Involvement In Hemp THC Drinks Market With 72 New Licenses In Minnesota
Marijuana Sales Are Rising And Alcohol Is On The Decline As Consumer Preferences Evolve, Government Data In Canada Shows
Feds Deny Snoop Dogg Request To Trademark ‘Smoke Weed Everyday’ Because Marijuana Is Illegal And Song Lyric Is Too Popular
Marijuana Kiosks For Seniors Are Coming To Independent Living Communities Across Arizona
Montana Retailers Have Sold More Than $1 Billion Worth Of Recreational Marijuana Since Legalization Took Effect
GOP lawmakers still trying to block cannabis rescheduling despite Trump (Newsletter: April 30, 2026)
Hemp amendments stall in Congress, for now (Newsletter: April 29, 2026)
Cannabis businesses can apply for federal protections with DEA this week (Newsletter: April 28, 2026)
Trump pushes Congress for hemp & CBD reforms (Newsletter: April 27, 2026)
Trump talks benefits of medical cannabis after rescheduling announcement (Newsletter: April 24, 2026)
Published
on
By
A key congressional panel has voted to block the federal rescheduling of marijuana—even though the Trump administration announced last week that it is moving ahead with enacting the reform.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies on Thursday approved a funding bill containing a provision that, if enacted, would prevent federal officials from taking further steps to carry out cannabis rescheduling.
“SEC. 591. None of the funds appropriated under this Act or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to reschedule marijuana (as such term is defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)) or to remove marijuana from the schedules established under section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812).”
The committee has advanced similar language in the past years as the federal government has weighed marijuana rescheduling, but those provisions were never passed into law.
The Department of Justice announced last week that marijuana products regulated by a state medical cannabis license immediately moved to Schedule III, as did any marijuana products that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). An administrative hearing scheduled for this summer will consider broader cannabis rescheduling.
Because the rescheduling of medical cannabis under Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s order took effect immediately, it’s not clear if or how the congressional rider would impact businesses and patients who are covered by that reform. If the language is passed by the full House and Senate and makes it into an appropriations package that President Donald Trump signs into law, however, it could prevent the hearing and related action on broader marijuana rescheduling from taking place.
The panel approved the Fiscal Year 2027 sending legislation containing the anti-rescheduling provision in a party-line vote of 8-6, sending it to the full Appropriations Committee, where it is scheduled to be taken up on May 13.
Meanwhile, the funding bill that is advancing also contains an updated version of a longstanding rider that since 2014 has protected state medical cannabis programs from federal interference.
“SEC. 531. (a) None of the funds made available under this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to any of the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, or with respect to the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, or Puerto Rico, to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.
(b) Funds made available under this Act to the Department of Justice may be used to enforce violations of 21 U.S.C. 860.”
This year’s provision for the first time includes Nebraska, after advocates pointed out the state was omitted from previously enacted appropriations legislation even though voters there approved medical cannabis legalization in 2024.
The latter subsection of the medical cannabis rider has never been enacted before, and it seeks to stipulate that the Justice Department can still enforce a section of U.S. code that calls for increased penalties for distributing cannabis within 1,000 feet of an elementary school, vocational school, college, playground or public housing unit.
Separately, the bill also includes another longstanding rider that protects state hemp research programs from federal interference.
“SEC. 530. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used in contravention of section 7606 (‘‘Legitimacy of Industrial Hemp Research’’) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–79) by the Department of Justice or the Drug Enforcement Administration.”
Meanwhile, the full House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a separate spending bill and an attached report that expresses concerns about health risks from cannabis-derived products, while also encouraging research into the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics.
The cannabis and drug policy developments in spending legislation comes amid several pending efforts on Capitol Hill to delay or alter the implementation of a law that stands to federally recriminalize hemp THC products later this year.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told Marijuana Moment this week that she supports the Trump administration’s cannabis rescheduling move—even if it “doesn’t quite make all the wrongs right” by leaving behind people who “had their lives destroyed by the war on drugs.”
Photo courtesy of Max Pixel.
Tom Angell is the editor of Marijuana Moment. A 25-year veteran in the cannabis and drug law reform movement, he covers the policy, politics, science and culture of marijuana, psychedelics and other substances. He previously reported for Forbes, Marijuana.com and MassRoots, and was given the Hunter S. Thompson Media Award by NORML and has been named Journalist of the Year by Americans for Safe Access. As an activist, Tom founded the nonprofit Marijuana Majority and handled media relations, campaigns and lobbying for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
Add Marijuana Moment as a preferred source on Google.
All the cannabis news you need, all in one place. Copyright © 2017-2026 Marijuana Moment LLC ® and Tom Angell