Government shutdown: Hemp enters the chat
GOP Sen. Rand Paul raised objections over a hemp provision, which could extend the shutdown by several more days
Hemp grows at Murray State University's hemp field in Murray, Ky., in 2019. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The deal to end the government shutdown ran into a last-minute snag on Monday: Hemp.
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The Senate is famously a consensus-driven institution where unanimity among every senator fast-tracks legislation from debate to final passage. Now that a preliminary deal has been struck, both parties are aiming to swiftly pass legislation to reopen the government through Jan. 31.
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But those efforts collided into resistance from GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. NBC News reported that the Kentucky Republican wants to preserve a so-called hemp loophole that allows the sale of synthetic THC products nationwide. Since a provision within the Senate package closes it, he argues that move deals a blow to the state's hemp industry.
"Just to be clear: I am not delaying this bill," Paul wrote on social media. "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."
A spokesperson for Paul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Currently, it is legal to sell hemp-derived THC products at the federal level as long as they don't exceed 0.3% in dry weight, first put in place in 2018. The Senate bill would ban those products.
Despite the unexpected turbulence, there is broad expectation that the agreement will eventually pass the Senate, the House, and reach President Donald Trump for his signature sometime later this week. "We have support from enough Democrats, and we're going to be reopening our country," Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Monday afternoon.