Senate leaders have included language in a bipartisan government funding bill that would delay most of the federal restrictions on hemp-derived products scheduled to take effect November 12.
The Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, released Sunday by the Senate Appropriations Committee, would maintain federal funding through December 11. A provision in the bill would also postpone most of the hemp restrictions enacted by Congress last year until that same date.
Under the proposal, the November 12 restrictions would initially apply only to intermediate and finished products containing cannabinoids that cannot naturally be produced by the cannabis plant. Products containing those non-naturally occurring synthetic cannabinoids would therefore still lose their federal hemp status as scheduled.
Other provisions, including a new limit of 0.4 milligrams of combined total THC per container, would be delayed until December 11. The postponement would also temporarily hold back provisions that switch the federal hemp standard from delta-9 THC to total THC, including tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), and exclude naturally occurring cannabinoids that were manufactured outside the plant.
Congress approved the restrictions in November 2025 as part of legislation funding the federal government. The changes were given a 365-day implementation period and are currently scheduled to take effect November 12, 2026.
Existing federal law generally defines hemp as cannabis containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis. The pending changes would use a broader total-THC calculation and establish the per-container limit, which industry representatives say would remove most intoxicating hemp products and many full-spectrum CBD products from the federally legal market.
The House approved its own continuing resolution in July, funding the government through December 4, without a comparable hemp provision. The Senate proposal must pass that chamber and then receive House approval before it can be sent to President Trump.
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