Politics
Trump-Linked PAC Uses Marijuana Business Donations To Campaign For GOP Lawmakers—Including Some Who Voted Against Legalization
A political action committee that shares the same treasurer as President Donald Trump’s own super PAC is using money raised from marijuana business donations to launch a series of ads for 11 vulnerable Republican members of Congress—including several who have voted against legislation to legalize cannabis.
As Marijuana Moment recently reported, some of the U.S.’s largest cannabis companies donated a collective $11.5 million to America First Agriculture Action Inc. in June.
The contributions—from Trulieve Inc., Curaleaf Inc., Verano Holdings LLC and Ascend Wellness Holdings Inc., along with other entities tied to Green Thumb Industries and AYR Wellness Inc.—brought the total amount of donations from cannabis businesses or an industry-linked political action committee to Trump-linked PACs to at least $15.05 million, according to a review of Federal Election Commission filings.
Now, the agriculture-focused PAC is spending nearly $1.8 million of that to support several GOP lawmakers who are in tough reelection fights in November.
The ads tout the voting records of Reps. Tom Barrett (R-MI), Nick Begich (R-AK), Rob Bresnahan (R-PA), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), Gabe Evans (R-CO), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Jen Kiggans (R-VA), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Scott Perry (R-PA), Bryan Steil (R-WI) and Derrick Van Orden (R-WI)—but they don’t mention marijuana at all. Instead, the spots targeted to each candidate note, for example, that they voted to ban insider trading by members of Congress and supported tax cuts, including a measure to make it so there would be no taxes on tips, overtime and social security.
While most of the members featured in the new ads were first sworn into Congress in 2023 or 2025 and have no cannabis-related voting record, Fitzpatrick, Perry and Steil, have been around longer, beginning in 2017, 2013 and 2019, respectively.
In 2020 and 2022, all three voted against Democratic-led bills to federally legalize marijuana.
Kiggans, for her part, was a Virginia state senator prior to joining Congress and in that capacity voted against legislation to legalize cannabis.
Ciscomani reportedly cheered the defeat of a marijuana legalization ballot initiative in Arizona in 2016, calling it an “awesome victory for our community.”
Lawler said last year that it would be “wrong” for the Trump administration to reschedule cannabis, claiming that “marijuana is a gateway drug” and arguing that “most of the people [who] end up using harder substances start out on marijuana.” He also joined a sign-on letter to the president arguing that rescheduling cannabis would “send the wrong message to America’s children, enable drug cartels, and make our roads more dangerous.” The congressman is additionally a cosponsor of a bill that would continue to block marijuana businesses from taking federal tax deductions under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code 280E, even under rescheduling.
Perry backed an amendment to protect state medical cannabis programs from federal interference in 2015 as well as a separate proposal to shield recreational marijuana laws as well—but then voted against similar broad amendments in 2019 and 2020. Fitzpatrick and Steil also voted against the amendments to block federal interference with state marijuana laws.
Fitzpatrick opposed amendments in 2014, 2015 and 2016 to let military veterans receive medical marijuana recommendations from Department of Veterans Affairs Doctors. Perry opposed that first iteration of the proposal before supporting it in the latter two votes.
Both Fitzpatrick and Perry voted in support of legislation to increase cannabis businesses’ access to banking services in 2019 and 2021, however.
The new marijuana-contribution-funded ad expenditures were first reported by Puck News, although that outlet questionably characterized the ads as a “reward” for most of the lawmakers voting to support recent spending legislation that included a provision to delay the effective date of the federal recriminalization of hemp THC products.
In fact, some of the state-licensed cannabis businesses whose money is being used to pay for the ads see hemp products as competition and support efforts to rein in that industry. Additionally, there was no standalone vote on the hemp ban delay provision itself, so it’s difficult to characterize supporting or opposing the overall spending legislation as taking a position on any cannabis-related issue.
Puck also did not note that the PAC took out an ad to support Begich while reporting the ads for the other lawmakers.
Although Trump’s administration has taken steps to federally reschedule marijuana, Republican congressional leadership and many members of the party’s House and Senate conferences remain openly hostile to cannabis reform.
The GOP-controlled House Appropriations Committee this year voted to block federal officials from taking further steps to carry out cannabis rescheduling, for example.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told Marijuana Moment in an interview this month that he thinks “marijuana is a gateway drug, and it causes other problems down the road” for people who use it.
In contrast, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who would be poised to become speaker next year if Democrats win back a majority in the chamber in November’s elections, said earlier this year that his party will “be in a position to do something about” marijuana laws “in the next Congress.”
The only two times that Congress has considered marijuana legalization legislation on the floor was under Democratic control in 2020 and 2022, via the bills that Fitzpatrick, Perry and all but a handful of Republicans voted against.
Notably, the treasurer of the agriculture PAC behind the new ads, Charles Gantt, is the same person named as treasurer of Trump’s political committee, MAGA Inc., which has separately received $2.05 million in donations from a cannabis-industry-backed committee, the American Rights and Reform PAC, Inc.
Last year, that cannabis industry PAC additionally gave a total of $1.5 million to the agriculture PAC.
Earlier FEC records also previously showed that Trulieve and Curaleaf contributed a total of $1 million to support Trump’s inaugural committee following his election in 2024. Curaleaf executive Matt Harrell is listed as treasurer of the American Rights and Reform PAC.
The latest contributions from the cannabis companies to the Trump-linked agriculture PAC came weeks after the Department of Justice announced it is moving forward with the process of federally rescheduling marijuana, a reform that Trump backed during the 2024 campaign and then issued an executive order on late last year.
Under an action announced by Attorney General Todd Blanche in April, marijuana products regulated by a state medical cannabis license immediately moved from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III, as did any marijuana products that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A hearing is considering broader cannabis rescheduling, including for recreational products.
Last August, America First Agriculture Action Inc. released an ad highlighting Trump’s endorsement of the reform on the campaign trail.
“Under President Trump, America is back. Trump’s delivered the largest tax cut in history—putting more money in our pockets and restored America’s economic dominance,” the ad, which is being targeted at multiple zip codes throughout Washington, D.C., says. “Promises made, promises kept.”
“Now it’s time to fulfill another promise from President Trump and reschedule cannabis, which supports over 400,000 jobs and creates billions of dollars in economic growth,” the PAC’s ad says. “Reschedule cannabis and stack another win, Mr. President.”
Shortly after Trump signed his cannabis executive order in December, the similarly named nonprofit America First Agriculture Inc. released an ad applauding the move, arguing that it will “destroy” the illicit market and support seniors and military veterans who could benefit from cannabis.
“Trump delivered a secure border, unleashed American energy and provided the largest tax cut in American history. Now Trump has delivered again by rescheduling cannabis, which was classified as more dangerous than fentanyl,” it said.
“Trump’s action will destroy the cartel’s illicit black market, expand medical research and ensure seniors and veterans safely receive the care they need,” the ad continued. “Thank President Trump for delivering on another America First promise.”
The cannabis industry-backed American Rights and Reform PAC separately released ads in May that attacked the marijuana policy record of President Joe Biden, whose administration initiated the cannabis rescheduling process that is now underway, in an apparent attempt to push Trump to go further on the issue.
The Trump administration’s marijuana rescheduling move is also challenged by opponents through litigation.
