U.S. Senate leaders released a stopgap funding measure on Aug. 2 that includes a provision to postpone the federal government’s forthcoming ban on intoxicating hemp products by a month.
The Senate Appropriations Committee’s Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2027, known as a continuing resolution (CR), would continue current government funding levels until Dec. 11, 2026, providing lawmakers in Washington additional time to avert a potential shutdown at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
The Senate’s version of the CR includes a measure to extend certain provisions in the hemp-derived product ban from Nov. 12 to Dec. 11. Specifically, the federal government’s new definition of hemp – that a plant contains no more that 0.3% total THC (including THCA) – and new restriction that products can’t have more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container would not be implemented until Dec. 11.
Meanwhile, hemp-derived cannabinoid products containing synthetic derivatives would still be banned on Nov. 12.
The temporary extension is “welcome news” that provides “critical breathing room for hemp farmers, small businesses, retailers, manufacturers and consumers while Congress continues to work toward a long-term solution,” according to the U.S. Hemp Roundtable (USHR).
The Senate’s CR comes after the House passed its stopgap measure on July 20 to fund federal agencies at existing levels through Dec. 4. The House version did not include an extension for the hemp industry.
The Senate must still pass its proposed CR with the hemp provision included, and convince the House to also approve that provision, before hemp industry stakeholders take a small victory lap and lobby Congress to then include a long-term solution for their viability in a full-year appropriations package.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the proposed CR is “straightforward” and “gives Congress the time we need to continue our work on bipartisan appropriations bills.” But whether Senate lawmakers treat the hemp provision as a priority for final passage remains to be seen.
The CR comes as House members have passed three of 12 appropriation measures for the upcoming fiscal year: the National Security, Department of State and Related Programs; the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies; and the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies appropriation acts of 2027.
The Senate has passed zero of Congress’ 12 regular annual appropriation bills for 2027.
House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole defended his committee’s actions last month, touting his leadership in delivering all 12 appropriation bills out of committee, even though the full lower chamber remains active on nine of them.
“While I wish I could say this same momentum and determination is being exercised on the other side of the Capitol – it is not,” Cole said on the House floor last month, when the lower chamber passed its version of the CR.
“So, the hard reality before us is straightforward – the fiscal year deadline is outpacing the work that remains,” he said. “Our conference refuses to let the obstruction and inaction of Senate Democrats trigger another manufactured shutdown at the end of September. That is why we are acting before a funding lapse crisis, not in response to it.”
Cole also made clear that he didn’t want any poison pills or partisan riders included in a final stopgap measure.
When the House passed the Agriculture, Rural Development and FDA package on June 4, lawmakers rejected a trio of hemp-related amendments that had aimed to either delay the ban by two years, halt the ban altogether, or replace the ban with a taxed and regulated system.
At the time, President Donald Trump’s White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) stated that the administration “welcomes the opportunity to work with the Congress to, at a minimum, update the statutory definition of final hemp-derived cannabinoid products to allow Americans to benefit from access to appropriate full-spectrum CBD products while preserving the Congress’s intent to restrict the sale of products that pose serious health risks.”
On June 24, OMB Director Russell T. Vought sent U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., a request, urging him to either include a regulatory package for intoxicating hemp products or to delay the November 2026 implementation through a supplemental funding measure related to the administration’s military attack on Iran. Vought referenced the amendment that Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., had offered earlier in the month to regulate and tax hemp products.
On July 22, Barr introduced standalone legislation, the Lawful Hemp Protection Act, to change the definition of hemp and divert the federal government’s forthcoming product ban through his proposed regulatory scheme.
While hemp industry stakeholders have advocated for a legislative fix since November 2025, when Congress included the hemp product prohibition language in a funding package to end last year’s government shutdown, their pathway to securing a future marketplace adjacent to the heavily regulated and taxed cannabis industry remains unsettled.
They’re now hoping the Senate’s CR will provide a lifeline.
“We are grateful to [a] bipartisan coalition of lawmakers who worked to ensure the hemp industry was not left behind in these critical funding negotiations,” USHR officials said. “We are also thankful to President Trump, whose White House has been supportive of this dialogue. This action provides Congress with additional time to develop a thoughtful, long-term approach to hemp policy rather than allowing a sweeping ban to take effect without fully considering its impact on American agriculture, small businesses, and consumers.”
