RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from The New York Times — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 1 sources
At the White House’s request, senators tucked a change sought by the hemp industry into a crucial spending bill. It would benefit the son-in-law of Susie Wiles, the president’s chief of staff.
Listen · 9:55 min Share full article 28 By Kenneth P. Vogel Christina Jewett and Olivia Diaz
Kenneth P. Vogel and Christina Jewett have covered special interest lobbying to shape government policies related to health care and public safety. Olivia Diaz covers Congress.
The White House is lobbying Congress for a reprieve from a ban it approved last year on potent intoxicating hemp products, seeking a delay whose beneficiaries would include the son-in-law of Susie Wiles, President Trump’s chief of staff.
Under pressure from the administration, senators tucked the delay into a stopgap spending measure they are working to pass this week in an effort to head off a government shutdown at the end of September.
The proposal has touched off an internal fight in Congress, with some senators balking at the idea of rolling back restrictions meant to address a public health risk, and could derail an agreement to quickly approve the spending bill. But its inclusion in the bill reflects the success of a hemp industry influence campaign to avoid new regulations.
That campaign was led in part by Bret Worley, who married Ms. Wiles’s younger daughter Caroline in June at the Trump Winery in Charlottesville, Va. He is the chief executive of companies that distribute and sell intoxicating-hemp-derived gummies and vapes with names like “Trainwreck” and “Blueberry Cookies.”
While Mr. Trump does not drink or smoke, his administration’s advocacy for intoxicating hemp is in line with permissive stances it has adopted toward other intoxicants and wellness trends. The approach has sparked concern among public health experts and is a departure from Republican orthodoxy.
But it caters to adherents of the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement, a political constituency that Mr. Trump’s team has courted. The administration has taken steps that could pave the way for products with documented health risks, including peptides , kratom and flavored vapes .
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.