Stopgap funding bill's hemp troubles aren't over

House GOP leadership faces a balancing act next month as they work to avert a partial government shutdown while navigating internal tensions over the Senate-proposed delay of a ban on sales of certain intoxicating hemp-derived products. House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris has been sounding the alarm since the Senate on Aug. 8 passed a stopgap spending bill that would extend federal funding authority that's set to expire Sept. 30, as well as pause a looming THC-infused hemp ban, through Dec. 11. Even without McConnell present due to his extended medical leave, the one-month delay in the Senate bill tied that chamber in knots for days as opponents tried to strip the provision. Twenty-one Senate Republicans — about 40 percent of the GOP conference — ultimately voted against tabling an amendment from Ted Budd, R-N.C., to strike the delay from the underlying bill. Harris, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee chair, alongside Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., helped write the initial ban into law last year, which otherwise would take effect Nov. 12 while the Senate is on recess.