Kentucky Governor Urges Trump To Oppose Bill Blocking Marijuana Rescheduling That’s Advancing In Congress

The governor of Kentucky is calling on President Donald Trump to reject congressional spending bill provisions that would prevent the Justice Department from rescheduling marijuana.

In a letter sent to Trump this week, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) emphasized that a pending proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is something “you supported in your presidential campaign.”

“That process should be allowed to play out. Americans deserve leadership that won’t move the goalposts on them in the middle of the game,” Beshear said, noting that he was among the tens of thousands who submitted public comments in favor of the reform after it was initiated under the Biden administration, “demonstrating broad public interest in rescheduling.”

“I joined that effort because this is about helping people. Rescheduling would provide suffering patients the relief they need,” the governor said. “It would ensure communities are safer—because legal medical products reduce the illicit market. It would provide new, meaningful research on health benefits.”

Beshear also mentioned a letter to DEA he signed onto last year urging rescheduling, “because the jury is no longer out on marijuana. It has medical benefits.”

Rescheduling “is just common sense,” the governor said. “Over 40 states now have medical marijuana programs. Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly agree on this issue, including in Kentucky, where you won a vast majority of the vote in 2016, 2020 and 2024, and where a Republican supermajority passed legislation legalizing medical marijuana in 2023—legislation that I signed into law. The federal government has fallen far behind on this issue and finally needs to catch up.”

Gov. Andy Beshear sent a letter to President Donald Trump this week asking the President to oppose congressional appropriations language that would block the DEA from rescheduling marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act.

Read more: https://t.co/TJj2fiTuxKpic.twitter.com/C1f63rkpYT

— Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) July 25, 2025

He referenced a September 2024 comment from Trump where the then-candidate said that, under his administration, “we will continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to pass common sense laws.”

“Now, it is time to make good on your promises to the American people.”

Referencing language included in a House committee-approved bill that would bar DOJ from rescheduling cannabis, Beshear said “this is not a common-sense law.”

“It stops a process that is already underway to accomplish a policy end that is overwhelmingly supported by the medical and scientific communities as well as the American people of every political party,” he said. “Congress should not take the decision-making process out of the hands of medical and scientific experts when they don’t like the results.”

“I hope that your action on this issue matches the promises you made to the American people to support rescheduling and work with Congress to ensure laws passed are truly ‘common sense,'” the governor said. “Again, I urge you to oppose the House Appropriations Committee’s proposed language to block the DEA from rescheduling marijuana.”

Here’s the text of the provision Beshear is asking the president to oppose: 

“SEC. 607. None of the funds appropriated or other wise made available by this Act may be used to reschedule marijuana (as such term is defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)) or to remove marijuana from the schedules established under section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812).”

Regardless of the appropriations bill, the rescheduling process is currently sitting in limbo—especially since the DEA judge overseeing the process has now announced he’ll be retiring at the end of the month, leaving the issue to newly confirmed DEA Administrator Terrance Cole.

Notably, while Cole has said that examining the rescheduling proposal would be “one of my first priorities” if he was confirmed for the role, he has refused to say what he wants the result to be and has in the past made comments expressing concerns about the health effects of cannabis.

In May, a Senate committee advanced the nomination of Cole to become DEA administrator amid the ongoing review of the marijuana rescheduling proposal that he has so far refused to commit to enacting.

Cole—who has previously voiced concerns about the dangers of marijuana and linked its use to higher suicide risk among youth—said in response to senators’ written questions that he would “give the matter careful consideration after consulting with appropriate personnel within the Drug Enforcement Administration, familiarizing myself with the current status of the regulatory process, and reviewing all relevant information.”

Meanwhile, earlier this month, DEA again notified DEA Administrative Law Judge John Mulrooney that the marijuana rescheduling process remains stalled under the Trump administration.

It’s been six months since Mulrooney temporarily paused hearings on a proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the CSA that was initiated under the Biden administration. And in a joint report to the judge submitted on Monday, DEA attorneys and rescheduling proponents said they’re still at an impasse.

Beshear, meanwhile, has been focused on state-level cannabis reform developments over recent years.

He recently touted “another milestone” in the state’s forthcoming medical marijuana program, with a licensed cultivator producing “the first medical cannabis inventory in Kentucky history.”

The governor previewed the development late last month, stating that he expected to see medical marijuana growers “putting seed in the ground really soon,” while projecting that patients will have access to cannabis before the year’s end.