President Trump has signed a federal spending bill into law that temporarily delays most of the sweeping new restrictions on hemp products scheduled to take effect in November.
The measure, H.R. 6500, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, funds the federal government through December 11 while effectively postponing most of the new federal hemp restrictions from November 12 until December 11.
The U.S. House approved the bill September 1 in a 370 to 48 vote after the Senate passed it 90 to 6 on August 8.
The restrictions were enacted in November 2025 and significantly narrow the federal definition of hemp established under the 2018 Farm Bill. Among other changes, the law replaces the current delta-9 THC standard with a total THC standard that includes THCA and establishes a limit of 0.4 milligrams of total THC and similarly acting cannabinoids per container for final hemp-derived cannabinoid products.
Those provisions were scheduled to take effect November 12, one year after the underlying law was enacted. Under H.R. 6500, most will now take effect December 11.
The delay also temporarily holds back other portions of the revised definition, including restrictions affecting viable cannabis seeds, certain intermediate hemp-derived cannabinoid products and cannabinoids that occur naturally in cannabis but are synthesized or manufactured outside the plant.
One portion of the law will still take effect November 12. Intermediate and final products containing cannabinoids that are not capable of being naturally produced by Cannabis sativa L. will lose their status as hemp under federal law on the original date.
Products excluded from the federal definition of hemp may instead be considered marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act.
The temporary extension survived an effort in the Senate to remove it. Senators voted 61 to 32 in August to table an amendment that would have allowed the broader restrictions to take effect November 12 as originally scheduled.
The Trump administration had previously endorsed H.R. 6500. In an August 3 Statement of Administration Policy, the White House said it supported the legislation and that Trump’s senior advisers would recommend he sign it if presented in its current form.
The new law gives hemp businesses and lawmakers roughly another month to seek a longer-term solution. Unless Congress acts again, the broader restrictions, including the 0.4-milligram-per-container limit and total THC standard, will take effect December 11.
