President Trump's Fiscal Year 2027 budget request, sent to Congress on Friday, proposes for the first time to maintain the rider barring the Department of Justice from spending funds to prevent states from implementing medical marijuana laws—reversing a position he held throughout his first term and last year, when he had asked Congress to delete the provision.
The rider covers all states with medical cannabis programs—omitting Nebraska, despite its medical cannabis law, for unknown reasons—plus D.C., the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico. President Biden had consistently proposed continuing it; President Obama, like Trump previously, sought to eliminate it. Congress has not removed the protection since it was first enacted in 2014, though it has also declined to extend coverage to recreational programs.
During his first term, Trump signed three appropriations bills containing the rider over his objections, each time stating his administration “will treat this provision consistent with the President’s constitutional responsibility to faithfully execute the laws of the United States”—signaling he reserved the right to ignore it. The new proposal comes after Trump issued an executive order directing the attorney general to complete the rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act.
The budget also proposes to continue a separate rider, championed by Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), blocking D.C. from legalizing adult-use cannabis sales. Section 809(a) bars federal funds from reducing penalties for any Schedule I substance or tetrahydrocannabinols derivative; Section 809(b) bars D.C. government funds from legalizing recreational use. If marijuana leaves Schedule I, that could give D.C. a workaround, though the undefined term “tetrahydrocannabinols derivative” raises complications. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) this week separately proposed legislation to allow medical marijuana companies to partner with local breweries and distilleries to produce cannabis-infused, alcohol-free drinks.
The budget additionally proposes continuing a hemp rider protecting state programs under the Agricultural Act of 2014, the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, and the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. It also reflects the removal of provisions—signed into law last year and set to take effect this November—that redefine and recriminalize certain hemp THC products; because those changes amended federal law on an ongoing basis, they do not require annual reenactment. Congress will now draft spending bills that may differ from the president’s proposals.
