Senate Sends Trump Bill That Would Continue Protecting Medical Marijuana States, Without Anti-Rescheduling Provisions

Medical marijuana protections survive the sausage grinder as the Senate sends a sprawling spending bill to the president—minus the anti-rescheduling booby trap. In a town that can make a deli counter look like a monastery, Congress managed to keep state medical marijuana programs insulated from federal interference while ditching a rider that would have kneecapped cannabis rescheduling. That’s the headline. The subtext is a little grimier: Washington still can’t quit its love affair with mixed signals, even as the Michigan-sized momentum of marijuana policy reform barrels ahead. For patients, businesses, and the regulators caught between state laws and federal swagger, this is the messy middle we live in.

Here’s what actually happened, stripped of spin. The Senate voted 82–15 to pass a package covering Fiscal Year 2026 spending for the Justice Department and its cousins—Commerce, Interior, Environment, Energy and Water. The bill preserves the longstanding rider that says DOJ can’t spend a dime to meddle with state medical cannabis laws. It also pointedly excludes House-passed language that would have stopped the administration from moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. That’s a big swing, given the president’s recent executive order directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to get that rescheduling done. An effort by Republicans to put the anti-rescheduling guardrail back in through amendment fizzled; for deeper context, see GOP Senators File Amendment To Block Trump From Rescheduling Marijuana. Meanwhile, DEA says internal appeals over rescheduling remain pending. Translation: the gears are grinding, but the machine hasn’t spat out the final verdict.

What stayed, what got cut

• Medical marijuana protections: preserved. DOJ still can’t spend funds to undercut state-legal medical programs.
• Anti-rescheduling rider: removed. No new prohibition on moving cannabis to Schedule III.
• School-zone add-on: dropped, but Congress “directs” enforcement of the Drug-Free School Zones Act, keeping a hard stare on sales near schools and playgrounds.
• Industrial hemp research: protected under the 2014 Farm Bill’s research authority.

The medical marijuana rider is the stubborn survivor of this saga, first stapled into law back in 2014 and renewed like clockwork ever since. It’s an elegant sledgehammer: a simple funding ban that ties DOJ’s hands where state medical programs are concerned. This year’s version comes with a curious omission—Nebraska doesn’t appear on the protected list, for reasons no one has bothered to explain in public. The broader tension remains: Congress is comfortable shielding medical cannabis while letting adult-use markets sweat it out, and it continues to deny the nation’s capital a regulated retail market. If you need a refresher on that particular D.C. standoff, the backstory in House Passes Bill To Keep Blocking Washington, D.C. From Legalizing Marijuana Sales is a sobering read. The package also includes a polite but clear nudge: enforce the Drug-Free School Zones law. Law-and-order muscle memory die-hards will like that, but it’s also a reminder that even in the age of cannabis normalization, some lines remain painted bright red.

No DOJ funds to thwart state medical cannabis laws. In the federal budget world, that’s a forcefield. It doesn’t legalize; it immobilizes the enforcers.

On the hemp side of the ledger, Congress kept the research guardrails in place, preserving the 2014 Farm Bill’s “Legitimacy of Industrial Hemp Research” language. But the vibes are mixed, and not the fun kind. Many stakeholders are still seething over a separate appropriations measure signed in November that effectively recriminalizes most consumable hemp products—a blunt instrument swung in the name of order that threatens a whole swath of small businesses. The political blowback has been loud, with farm-state voices warning that a blanket hemp THC ban would bulldoze livelihoods. If you’re tracking that storyline, bookmark Key GOP Congressional Committee Chairman Pushes To Delay Hemp THC Ban, Saying It Will Hurt Farmers. The White House, for its part, tried to balance the ledger by urging Congress to revisit hemp access and protect full-spectrum CBD, with a federal agency preparing to cover certain CBD products for select patients under Medicare and Medicaid. A patchwork, sure—but in cannabis, patchworks often pave the road before policy does.

So where does this leave the cannabis industry and the people it serves? Somewhere between a green light and a yellow flag. State medical programs remain protected, and the path to Schedule III looks clearer without that anti-rescheduling rider. But discretion still rules the day, and the DEA’s slow churn means no champagne yet. The subtext is worth savoring: states keep rewriting their own story while Congress edits in the margins. Look at the East Coast, where Virginia lawmakers are angling to move from theory to practice with legal sales—context you can chew on in New Virginia Bill Would Legalize Recreational Marijuana Sales And Increase Possession Limit. The center of gravity keeps shifting toward regulated, taxed, and consumer-safe markets. That’s the trajectory, even if the feds keep fiddling with the tempo. In the meantime, keep your compliance tight, your sourcing honest, and your options open—and if you’re exploring what’s next in this evolving landscape, take a look at our offerings here: https://thcaorder.com/shop/.