Politics
Democratic Senator ‘Very Concerned’ About How DOJ Will Handle Marijuana Rescheduling
Bipartisan senators are weighing in on the Trump administration’s marijuana rescheduling process—including how it could impact the fight to ease banking access for cannabis businesses.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) told Marijuana Moment on Wednesday that it’s “too early to tell” what the implications of President Donald Trump’s executive order directing the Department of Justice to expedite the process of moving cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III will be—saying that while there are “things that look promising” about it, he is “very concerned about where the DOJ will land.”
“The ability of the Trump administration to speak out of both sides of their mouth is staggering,” he said. “So I’m just going to wait and see right now. Obviously, there’s things that look promising—to end generations of injustice. I really want to wait and see.”
DOJ has so far not provided any updates or timelines on the rescheduling process since Trump issued his executive order last month, and Attorney General Pam Bondi—who has historically opposed marijuana reform—was not present at the signing ceremony.
Booker added in the interview with Marijuana Moment that the administrative rescheduling move could potentially open to the door to advancing additional cannabis reforms in Congress such as the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act (SAFER) Banking Act, which would make it easier for marijuana businesses to access financial services.
“As a legislator, for me, that might get us an opening to some of the things that are stalled in Congress,” he said. “But ultimately that’s where I feel more comfortable, so that no matter who the president is, we have a structure that works to end the injustices and to liberate, frankly, an industry that has been severely hamstrung.”
The senator, who at one point threatened to block the advancement of industry-focused banking legislation if it did not include more equity-focused provisions, said that he’s since “been able to get into SAFER some of the elements that are important to me to be able to support it.”
That is likely a reference to the addition of language clarifying that the bill’s safe harbor for banks that work with cannabis businesses is extended to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) that make commercial loans to minority-owned businesses.
That said, a current version of the SAFER Banking Act has not yet been reintroduced in either the House or the Senate more than a year after the 119th Congress began.
On Thursday, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who is expected to be the lead sponsor of the legislation this session, told Marijuana Moment that marijuana banking is “stacked ranked very low” as a priority “because we just have a lot of irons in the fire right now.”
Issues that take precedence include “funding the government, getting this healthcare thing done, crypto market structure,” he said.
Asked whether the administrative move to reschedule cannabis takes some pressure off of lawmakers to act, he said, “I think so, probably.”
Last week, two other GOP senators filed an amendment to block the Trump administration from rescheduling cannabis, but it was not considered on the floor.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said a marijuana rescheduling appeal process “remains pending” despite Trump’s executive order.
A recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report discussed how DOJ could, in theory, reject the president’s directive or delay the process by restarting the scientific review into marijuana.
The LCB contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.
