House Republicans' Hemp Revolt Fails, Trump Signs Delay

NATIONAL, September 5, 2026: A last-ditch revolt by House Republicans against a delay of the federal hemp THC ban collapsed on the floor this week, clearing the way for President Donald Trump to sign the measure into law and push the deadline to December 11.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, led the effort September 1, voting against a procedural rule governing an unrelated package of GOP-led legislation as a form of protest over the hemp provision tucked into the government funding bill, H.R. 6500. Reps. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Clay Higgins (R-La.) joined him in opposition, each citing the hemp delay among their concerns, according to Marijuana Moment. Sessions said he wanted leadership to strip the delay and "make it a clean CR." Roy wrote to leadership citing "serious concerns" about the bill's "treatment of harmful intoxicating hemp products."

The rule survived anyway, 210-208, after Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) and Jared Golden (D-Maine) crossed over to vote with Republican leadership. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said he was "sympathetic" to Harris's concerns about using the funding bill to address hemp, but criticized the holdouts for using the rule vote as "leverage." Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) was more pointed, saying on Facebook that the protest had "nothing to do with the CR."

With the rule cleared, the House passed H.R. 6500 the same day, 370-48, sending it to Trump, who signed it September 2. The law funds the government through December 11 and pushes most of the new hemp restrictions, including the 0.4-milligram total THC per container cap, from their original November 12 effective date to that same December 11 date. A carve-out for synthetic cannabinoids not naturally produced by the cannabis plant still takes effect November 12.

Separately, the House-based push for a permanent regulatory fix continued to build support. The bipartisan Lawful Hemp Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) in July, added two new cosponsors this week, Reps. James Baird (R-Ind.) and Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), bringing its total to eight lawmakers evenly split between the parties. The bill, which remains assigned to four House committees without a hearing or vote, would replace the broader restrictions with a 1 percent total THC dry-weight limit, a ban on synthetic cannabinoids, a 21-and-over sales rule and federal packaging and labeling standards, according to The Marijuana Herald.

With the December 11 deadline now doubling as the date government funding again runs out, lawmakers and hemp industry groups have roughly another month to negotiate a longer-term framework before both cliffs arrive together.