Hemp Rule Creates Turbulence for Senate Vote To End Shutdown
November 10, 2025 | Source: Politico | by Natalie Fertig
A proposed ban on intoxicating hemp products emerged as an obstacle Monday to ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said he would oppose a package that would end the shutdown because it closes a loophole that has enabled the proliferation of widely available intoxicating hemp products, hurting a growing industry in his state.
A provision added to funding for the Agriculture Department would close a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill that inadvertently paved the way for intoxicating products to be sold nationwide.
Some members of the Kentucky congressional delegation, including Sen. Mitch McConnell, favor closing the loophole. But many others object because they fear it will hurt the state’s agricultural industry.
“I detest the tactics that are being used to try to get this ban enacted into law,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) told POLITICO. “Kentucky benefits from hemp production, and I fully support Senator Rand Paul’s efforts to strip the unrelated hemp ban from the Senate funding bill.”
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