House lawmakers advanced a budget bill which would keep a controversial clause that prevents Washington, D.C., from using their own tax dollars in order to create a controlled marijuana market.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government approved the bill on Monday. It retained the riders championed anti-cannabis Rep. Andy Harris, R-MD.
The FSGG did not mention marijuana industry banking in its legislation, to the dismay of those who advocated for it.
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, (D-DC), criticized the appropriators who put forward a bill which restricts the autonomy of the District in many ways. This includes the riders to “prohibit use of funds for commercializing recreational marijuana.”
Norton stated in a release to the press on Sunday, when the legislative draft was unveiled: “I am appalled at the sheer number of anti D.C. house rule riders included in this bill.”
“It is unsurprising that at a time when there are more frequent Republican attacks on D.C. home rule than any time since the 1990s, the D.C. appropriations bill reported out of a Republican-controlled subcommittee contains numerous and extensive riders that would overrule the expressed will of D.C. residents,” the congresswoman said in a separate statement after the panel’s action on Monday. “I’ll use all the tools at my disposal in order to keep these riders out of law. I also commit to reminding other lawmakers that D.C. Residents deserve equal consideration as they do their own constituents,” she said.
This is the section in the appropriate language:Â
“SEC. 830. The Federal Funds contained in the Act cannot be used for the enactment or implementation of any laws, rules, or regulations to reduce or legalize the penalties that are associated with possession, use or distribution of Schedule I substances under the Controlled Substances Act. 801 et seq.) or any tetrahydrocannabinols derivative.
The District of Columbia Government may not use any funds that are available under its authority for obligations or expenditures to pass any laws, rules, or regulations to reduce the penalties associated with possession, usage, or distribution of Schedule I substances as defined by the Controlled Substances Act (2 U.S.C. 801 et. seq.). or any tetrahydrocannabinols derivative for recreational purposes.”
Norton stated in May she will again urge her colleagues to support her efforts to eliminate the cannabis-related language.
She said that as Congress worked on the fiscal 2026 appropriation bills, she would continue to fight for the removal of this “rider.” In reference to a White House statement that called District’s efforts to implement local marijuana reform a failed policy which “opened the doors to disorder.”
The budget proposal that President Donald Trump released last month also contained the Harris Rider, which prevents marijuana sales in D.C. despite the fact that voters approved legalization of the substance in 2014. The Harris rider was also included in the budget request of President Donald Trump, released last month. This prevented marijuana sales in D.C. despite voters in the jurisdiction voting to legalize the drug in 2014.
As a temporary solution, D.C. officials expanded the existing medical marijuana program in the city.
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In other appropriations-related developments, a key Senate committee recently included a variety of marijuana and psychedelics-related provisions in a report attached to a pair of spending bills—including calls to allow U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to recommend medical cannabis if the federal government reschedules it, exploring the possibility of “reducing opioid use through medical marijuana” and cracking down on illicit grow operations.
Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a report as well as a Justice Department spending measure that maintains protections for medical marijuana-program states. However, the committee omitted a proposal that was included in the House’s version of annual appropriations that prevented DOJ from redesiduling cannabis.
The panel also approved the veterans funding bill along with an amendment allowing VA doctors to recommend medical cannabis to their military veteran patients in legal states.
Advocates remain concerned, however, about the House language that would restrict DOJ from rescheduling cannabis, but the fact that it was not incorporated into the Senate legislation likely diminishes the chances it will ultimately be enacted when the final package is delivered to the president’s desk.
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