U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno, the lead Republican sponsor of the SAFER Banking Act, says he hopes to see movement on the bill in Q4 of this year. He also indicated that Trump’s move to reschedule could come via executive order.

Moreno, who assumed the role of GOP sponsor after Senator Steve Daines left the Banking Committee earlier this year, told Ask a Pol that he remains committed to moving the SAFER Banking Act before the end of the year, though he noted the Senate’s crowded calendar.

“We’re still seeing what we can do to get it done in Q4,” Moreno said. “As you know, the Democrats give us a lot of stuff to do. We have to fund the government, we have to get NDAA across the finish line, we gotta get nominations done.”

When asked about President Donald Trump’s recent endorsement of marijuana rescheduling, Moreno acknowledged its significance while stressing patience.

“[H]e hasn’t actually issued the executive order yet, right?” said Moreno. “It’s obviously an important domino, is the rescheduling. Certainly there’s a lot of my colleagues that would have that concern if we didn’t do rescheduling. So we’ll look at it, but we have time. We have time.”

The SAFER Banking Act, which would provide federal protections to financial institutions serving state-licensed marijuana businesses, has been one of the most closely watched marijuana reform measures in Congress in recent years. While bipartisan support has grown in recent years, the bill has repeatedly stalled in the Senate despite passing the House multiple times.

With marijuana rescheduling under active consideration by the Trump administration and momentum building behind banking reform, Moreno’s comments underscore how the two issues are increasingly linked. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle will be weighing those dynamics as they balance marijuana policy with other year-end legislative priorities.