Congressional negotiators have removed language from a proposed federal spending bill that would have prevented the Justice Department from rescheduling marijuana, while keeping in place long-running protections for state medical marijuana programs.
The change appears in a newly released bipartisan agreement covering funding for Commerce, Justice, Science and related agencies. A version approved by a GOP-controlled House committee earlier this year included a provision that would have prohibited DOJ from using appropriated funds to reschedule marijuana or remove it from the Controlled Substances Act. That language is not included in the final bicameral package.
The omission follows President Donald Trump’s recent executive order instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi to move forward with the process of transferring marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. While some Republicans attempted to stop that outcome through the appropriations process, those restrictions were ultimately left out during negotiations with the Senate.
At the same time, the spending deal preserves a budget rider that has been renewed every year since 2014, which prohibits the Justice Department from using federal funds to interfere with state medical marijuana laws. The provision lists the states and territories covered by the protection, though Nebraska is again excluded from the language without a clear explanation.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole said the package builds on momentum from previously enacted spending bills, while Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins described the agreement as fiscally restrained while supporting core federal investments.
Overall, the deal removes a direct congressional effort to block marijuana rescheduling while preserving the budgetary safeguards that have allowed state medical marijuana programs to operate largely without federal interference for more than a decade.
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