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A powerful GOP-led congressional committee amended a report for a spending bill containing provisions that hemp stakeholders say would upend the industry, clarifying that the panel does not intend to prohibit non-intoxicating cannabinoid products with “trace or insignificant amounts of THC” that were federally legalized during the first Trump administration.
About a week after clearing a subcommittee, the legislation was taken up in the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, where members adopted a manager’s amendment that provides the clarifying language—albeit in the report attached to the bill, rather than in the legislative text itself.
The 138-page measure covers a wide range of issues, but for the hemp industry, there’s a section of particular concern that would redefine hemp under federal statute in a way that would prohibit cannabis products containing any “quantifiable” amount of THC or “any other cannabinoids that have similar effects (or are marketed to have similar effects) on humans or animals” as THC.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD)—chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies—said in opening remarks at the hearing that the legislation “closes the loop hemphole,” before correcting himself to say “the hemp loophole from the 2018 Farm Bill.”
He argued that the policy “has resulted in the proliferation of intoxicating cannabinoid products, including delta-8 and hemp flower, being sold online and in gas stations nationwide under the false guise of being ‘USDA approved.’”
As many states have stepped in to curb these dangerous project products from reaching consumers, particularly children, it’s time for Congress to act to close this loophole while protecting industrial hemp industry,” Harris said. “Reports that the included language would destroy legitimate businesses are simply not true, and that’s clear to anyone closely reading the carefully drafted language that I believe threaded the needle.”
Despite Harris’s strong opposition to cannabis reform and criticism of intoxicating hemp products, his manager’s amendment to the report notably expresses the intent of the committee to take a more flexible regulatory approach to certain cannabis items.
“In determining the quantifiable amounts, the Committee does not intend for industrial or nonintoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoid products with trace or insignificant amounts of THC to be affected,” it says.
But the language in the bill itself would still effectively eliminate the most commonly marketed hemp products within the industry, as even non-intoxicating CBD items that are sold across the country typically contain trace amounts of THC. Under current law, those products are allowed if they contain no more than 0.3 percent THC by dry weight.
The proposed policy championed by Harris would drastically change that. It would instead maintain the legal status of “industrial hemp” under a revised definition that allows for the cultivation and sale of hemp grown for fiber, whole grain, oil, cake, nut, hull, microgreens or “other edible hemp leaf products intended for human consumption.”
Jonathan Miller, general counsel at the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, told Marijuana Moment on Friday that the new report language doesn’t fully address the industry’s concerns, pointing out that it “has no binding impact on the law, and this is especially important because, over the last several years, [the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA] has continually ignored the report language when it comes to hemp and CBD.”
“But it’s also important to note that, by putting this report language in that manager’s amendment, Chairman Harris recognizes that his current legislative language is completely contrary to what most members of Congress want to see happen,” he said.
While there were expectations that the committee would vote on the bill this week, members ultimately did not finish their work on the legislation. And with the House on recess next week, it’s not yet clear when they will do so.
The hemp language is largely consistent with appropriations and agriculture legislation that was introduced, but not ultimately enacted, under the last Congress.
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) said at Wednesday’s hearing that he and Harris “have worked very hard to protect the industrial hemp industry while closing loopholes that were created in the 2018 Farm Bill.”
“So, I want to thank everybody for the efforts working on that issue,” he said. “I think that we’ve come to a very reasonable outcome.”
Hemp industry stakeholders rallied against that proposal, an earlier version of which was also included in the base bill from the subcommittee last year. It’s virtually identical to a provision of the 2024 Farm Bill that was attached by a separate committee last May via an amendment from Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), which was also not enacted into law.
There are some differences between the prior spending bill and this latest version for 2026, including a redefining of what constitutes a “quantifiable” amount of THC that’d be prohibited for hemp products.
It now says that a quantifiable amount is “based on substance, form, manufacture, or article (as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture),” whereas it was previously defined as an amount simply “determined by the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services.”
The proposed legislation also now specifies that the term hemp does not include “a drug that is the subject of an application approved under subsection (c) or (j) of section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355),” which seems to carve out an exception for Food and Drug Administration- (FDA) approved drugs such Epidiolex, which is synthesized from CBD.
A leading alcohol industry association, meanwhile, has called on Congress to dial back language in the House spending bill that would ban most consumable hemp products, instead proposing to maintain the legalization of naturally derived cannabinoids from the crop and only prohibit synthetic items.
Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) President and CEO Francis Creighton said in a press release on Thursday that “proponents and opponents alike have agreed that this language amounts to a ban.”
“By pushing a rapidly evolving industry back into the shadows, Congress is creating even more chaos in the marketplace, undermining state initiatives and punishing responsible actors,” he said. “We urge the full House to reconsider this approach. States can regulate intoxicating products safely and effectively through systems that preserve consumer trust and public safety. It’s time for Congress to follow their lead, not override their authority.”
Members of Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) also met with lawmakers and staffers in April to advocate for three key policy priorities that the group says is based on “sound principles of alcohol distribution.” They include banning synthetic THC, setting up a federal system for testing and labeling products and establishing state-level power to regulate retail sales.
Separately, key GOP congressional lawmakers—including one member who supports marijuana legalization—don’t seem especially concerned about provisions in a new spending bill that would put much of the hemp industry in jeopardy by banning most consumable products derived from the plant.
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Jonathan Miller, general counsel of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, told congressional lawmakers in April that the market is “begging” for federal regulations around cannabis products.
At the hearing, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) also inquired about FDA inaction around regulations, sarcastically asking if it’d require “a gazillion bureaucrats that work from home” to regulate cannabinoids such as CBD.
A report from Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) last year called cannabis a “significant threat” to the alcohol industry, citing survey data that suggests more people are using cannabis as a substitute for alcoholic beverages such a beer and wine.
Last November, meanwhile, a beer industry trade group put out a statement of guiding principles to address what it called “the proliferation of largely unregulated intoxicating hemp and cannabis products,” warning of risks to consumers and communities resulting from THC consumption.
Photo courtesy of Brendan Cleak.
“}]] A powerful GOP-led congressional committee amended a report for a spending bill containing provisions that hemp stakeholders say would upend the industry, clarifying that the panel does not intend to prohibit non-intoxicating cannabinoid products with “trace or insignificant amounts of THC” that were federally legalized during the first Trump administration. About a week after clearing Read More
