The Senate Committee on Appropriations approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies Appropriations on July 10, 2025. The measure, which was advanced by a unanimous vote of 27-0, provides $27.1 billion in discretionary funding. Read the Committee’s summary
here
and the full Committee report
here.
The Committee Report includes language titled, “Increased Enforcement Action Against Unauthorized E–Cigarettes and Tobacco Improvements.” The report language directs the FDA to prioritize resources by “establishing a floor of $200,000,000” to be spent on enforcement activities to ensure illegal e-cigarette and tobacco products are expeditiously removed from the market and urges the FDA to promptly complete its required premarket review of e-cigarettes and utilize “all legally authorized remedies” to ensure the removal of products from the market. The report also directs the FDA to use $2 million of that money to support the activities of the Federal multi-agency task force created in June 2024.
The bill also includes language that creates distinct definitions for “industrial hemp” and “hemp-derived cannabinoid products,” and would ban hemp-derived cannabinoid (CBD) products containing synthetic compounds and/or quantifiable amounts of THC or THCA—or other cannabinoids that have similar effects on humans or animals. A manager’s amendment, written by Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), would delay the ban by one year.
With some notable exceptions, there is wide support in both the House and Senate for banning or restricting the sale of hemp-derived THC products, and the House Appropriations Committee previously approved similar language in their FY26 Ag/FDA spending bill. Off the Hill, there is concern that despite the delay, the language would ban most hemp-derived THC products available to consumers. Given the ban is delayed for a year, there may be an effort to address the ban before it goes into effect.
Finally, the Committee Report also directs the commissioner of the FDA and Secretary of Agriculture to provide lawmakers with a report on implementation of the new prohibition, “including the projected impacts to the established cannabinoid marketplace, engagement with industry stakeholders, and shall include information about uniform packaging, labeling, testing, and adverse event reporting requirements.” It would be due within 180 days of the law’s enactment. Read more
here.