Senators have agreed to strip out language that would close a hemp regulatory loophole from their agriculture funding bill, following a clash between Kentucky GOP Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul.
Senate Appropriations Agriculture-FDA subcommittee Chair John Hoeven (R-N.D.) told reporters Tuesday that the hemp provision, which was championed by McConnell, was removed after Paul threatened to block Senate passage of the appropriations bill entirely.
“We could never get agreement between the two,” Hoeven said.
The loophole, which McConnell was responsible for introducing through the 2018 farm bill, allows hemp producers to create intoxicating products without being subject to the same rules or taxes as marijuana. However, it also opened the floodgates to unregulated production of intoxicating products across the country.
McConnell earlier this month advocated for the appropriations bill to include language that would close the loophole and reduce hemp-derived products’ legally allowed THC limit — a provision that Paul on Monday claimed would “destroy” an industry that has flourished since 2018.
Hoeven told reporters that McConnell wouldn’t object to the removal of the provision.
When asked if the agreement will clear the way for senators to pass the agriculture funding bill this week before breaking for August recess, Hoeven said: “I sure hope so.”
McConnell has indicated in private conversations that he views the closing of the hemp regulatory loophole as key to his agriculture policy legacy before his retirement next year. Still, a spokesperson for McConnell said Tuesday that the senator “doesn’t want to hold up the process” of passing all appropriations bills and is “working with the committee on a path forward.”