GOP Lawmakers Urge Trump Not To Reschedule Marijuana...

Republican congressional lawmakers are making a last-ditch attempt to
convince President Donald Trump not to follow through with reported plans
to reschedule marijuana—with a pair of letters from House and Senate
members who say the move would be a mistake.

The House letter says rescheduling cannabis would “send the wrong message
to America’s children, enable drug cartels, and make our roads more
dangerous.”

The representatives—led by Reps. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Andy Harris
(R-TX)—said cannabis is a “harmful drug that is worsening our nation’s
addiction crisis.”

The Senate letter, organized by Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), told Trump that
moving marijuana to Schedule III would “undermine your strong efforts to
Make America Great Again and to usher in America’s next economic Golden
Age.”

The House members’ letter attempts to appeal to Trump by characterizing the
reform as a “Biden Administration rescheduling decision,” saying that the
former president’s team tried to “expand the use of an addictive drug for
partisan gain.”

“Rescheduling marijuana will not make America great,” the lawmakers wrote.
“You have always been a role model for America’s youth, telling young
people for years that they should never do drugs. We hope that you consider
the harms of marijuana rescheduling and continue sending that strong
message of hope to the next generation.”

The House letter claims that the policy change is not needed in order to
boost research, contrary to comments the president made earlier this week.

Both the House and Senate letters—which were circulated as the White House
confirmed to Marijuana Moment that Trump would be addressing cannabis
rescheduling on Thursday—claim that the primary benefit of rescheduling
would go to cannabis companies that would no longer subject to the federal
tax penalty known as 280E and could write off their business expenses.

“This would incentivize addiction-for-profit dispensaries to advertise more
kid-friendly products than ever,” the House lawmakers wrote. “Tax relief
should be prioritized for hard-working, law-abiding Americans and
businesses, not marijuana shops.”

They also argue that enacting federal cannabis reform will make roads “more
dangerous” due to impaired driving and will “hamper” Trump’s efforts to
combat Chinese-linked criminal groups that operate illicit marijuana farms
in the U.S.

“These farms yield billions in revenue for Chinese traffickers and are an
essential component of fentanyl money laundering schemes. According to the
DEA, many of these Chinese marijuana farms are licensed by state
governments. Thus, they will be eligible for the 280E-exempt tax deductions
under Schedule III. Our country cannot adopt a policy that will provide tax
relief to Chinese cartels that kill thousands of Americans every day.”

“Schedule I drugs are addictive and have no medical value. Marijuana fits
squarely into this category,” the House letter says. “Rescheduling tells
our youth that marijuana use is acceptable and safe, a dangerous falsehood
that will sink us deeper into our country’s drug crisis.”

Growing the marijuana industry endangers the health and safety of
Americans. The only winners from rescheduling will be bad actors like
Communist China and drug traffickers.

I led a letter with 22 of my Senate colleagues voicing concerns about
marijuana rescheduling. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/eVDSAd3zlX

— Senator Ted Budd (@SenTedBuddNC) December 18, 2025

The senators’ letter, first reported by Punchbowl News, concluded by saying
that “in light of the documented dangers of marijuana, facilitating the
growth of the marijuana industry is at odds with growing our economy and
encouraging healthy lifestyles for Americans.”

“We urge you to continue your strong leadership of our country and our
economy, and to turn away from marijuana rescheduling,” they said.

The Senate letter was signed by 22 members, including Senate Majority Whip
John Barrasso (R-WY), Republican Conference Chair Tom Cotton (R-AR) and
Republican Policy Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), along with
Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), John Cornyn (R-TX),
Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rick Scott (R-FL), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Lindsey Graham
(R-SC) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).

In addition to Session and Harris, the House letter, first reported by Fox
News, was also signed by 24 other lawmakers.

Whether the messages from GOP lawmakers will influence the president’s
decision remain to be seen, but numerous reports over the past week have
affirmed that the rescheduling plan is in motion. That includes Marijuana
Moment’s reporting on Wednesday that a White House official confirmed Trump
is slated to address the issue on Thursday—while caveating that various
rumors about the details are “speculation” until the administration
finalizes a decision.

As recently reported, the president’s executive order may also address
ancillary issues related to CBD coverage through federal Medicare and a
call for congressional action on cannabis banking.

There are also rumors that a rescheduling decision will be coupled with
presidential clemency, though the scope of that potential relief is
unclear. That said, the White House spokesperson made clear that the deluge
of details about the administration’s plans are speculative for now.

But according to NBC News, the executive order may contain an explicit push
from the president urging Congress to pass a bipartisan bill titled the
Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, which would
prevent federal regulators for penalizing financial institutions simply for
working with state-licensed marijuana businesses.

The lack of banking access for the cannabis industry was also raised in a
Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday.

It’s also being speculated that the plan is to take a novel—albeit
logistically complicated—approach to cannabidiol, a non-intoxicating
component of the cannabis plant that’s widely used as a health supplement.
Sources have said that drafts of the executive order have called on the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to amend its rules to let
people on Medicare receive reimbursements for the cannabinoid product.

That potential reform was also floated in a video from The Commonwealth
Project touting the health benefits of CBD that Trump shared on Truth
Social in late September.

CMS implemented a rule in April specifically stipulating that marijuana, as
well as CBD that can be derived from federally legal hemp, are ineligible for
coverage under its Medicare Advantage program and other services. But the
agency has since revised the proposed rule, just weeks before the expected
administrative order by Trump.

On Monday, Trump said he is “very strongly” considering rescheduling
cannabis in part to ease restrictions on research into its effects.

Opponents of the policy change have stepped up their efforts to dissuade
the administration from moving forward, arguing that a reclassification to
Schedule III will further normalize marijuana use even though it would not
federally legalize the plant. Rescheduling would, however, let marijuana
businesses take federal tax deductions while reducing certain research
barriers associated with Schedule I drugs.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), one of the more vocal prohibitionists in Congress,
said this week that Trump doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally
reschedule marijuana via executive order. But while lawmakers could
overrule any administrative move to enact the reform, it would be a “heavy
lift” in the Republican-controlled Congress, he acknowledged.

Meanwhile, multiple top congressional Democrats are making the case that
the modest reform would not go far enough—including Sen. Ron Wyden (R-OR)
who said the move is only an attempt by the president to “gaslight” voters
into thinking he legalized cannabis to boost his “pathetic” approval
ratings.

A major drug testing industry organization separately said it’s “sounding
the alarm” amid the reports Trump may soon finalize the rescheduling
proposal, arguing that the policy change would “have catastrophic
consequences for the safety of the United States workforce and
transportation sectors.”


*— Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug
policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon
supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps,
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Bipartisan congressional lawmakers have been weighing in on the potential
rescheduling decision over the past week—with Democrats like Rep. Alex
Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) calling the reform a “no-brainer” and others like Rep.
Andy Harris (R-MD) pushing back against the proposal.

The Washington Post reported last week that Trump was planning to issue an
executive order directing federal agencies to move ahead with cannabis
rescheduling.

The outlet also said the president met earlier this week in the Oval Office
with marijuana industry executives, Health and Human Services Secretary
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Administrator Mehmet Oz. During that meeting, Trump phoned Johnson, the
House speaker, who expressed his opposition to rescheduling cannabis,

If the administration does ultimately enact rescheduling, it would mark one
of the most significant developments in federal marijuana policy since its
prohibition a half a century ago, with a Schedule III reclassification
recognizing that marijuana has medical value and a lower abuse potential
compared to other Schedule I drugs like heroin.

*Read the marijuana letters to Trump below:*

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26382454-congressional-letter-to-president-trump-opposing-marijuana-rescheduling/

The post GOP Lawmakers Urge Trump Not To Reschedule Marijuana In Last-Ditch
Effort To Block Historic Reform appeared first on Marijuana Moment.