KY Politics Insider: DC fight over hemp, Barr backs a Trump $250 bill & more
Kentucky Politics Insider offers an analysis of Kentucky politics and the conversations that drive decisions. Email reporter Austin Horn at ahorn@herald-leader.com or ping him on social media sites with tips or comments.
Kentucky’s federal delegation is divided over language in a bill that would affect the sale of hemp-based products.
Sen. Mitch McConnell pushed to add a provision to this year’s agriculture spending bill directing the Food and Drug Administration to set stricter THC limits on hemp-derived products, targeting intoxicating synthetics like Delta-8.
McConnell’s effort wasn’t successful in the Senate, but the language, which bans consumable products with “quantifiable” amounts of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, made it into the latest version of the bill in the U.S. House. McConnell was a key supporter of the 2018 bill that allowed hemp products with low amounts of THC, but has championed the language as closing a dangerous “loophole.”
Jonathan Miller, a former Kentucky treasurer who is now a leading hemp and CBD advocate in Washington, has sounded the alarm. He says it will hurt many Kentucky growers, who supply businesses with established product lines that contain small amounts of THC.
“Eighty-seven percent of all hemp grown in Kentucky is for cannabinoids — for CBD and other hemp products. Only 13% is for grain and fiber. This would wipe out 87% of the industry,” Miller told the Herald-Leader.
Many Kentucky Republicans have joined Miller, who is a Democrat.
Kentucky’s other senator, Rand Paul, opposed the language in the Senate. Joining him are Rep. James Comer and Commissioner of Agriculture Jonathan Shell, who was previously a hemp grower himself.
“Kentucky’s farmers deserve stability and support as they work to grow and diversify their operations,” Shell said. “We’ve seen strong progress in hemp production, including significantly increased acreage from last year — an encouraging sign of the industry’s resilience and potential.”
The latest chapter came this week when President Donald Trump posted a video extolling the benefits of CBD products for the elderly, seen by many as a tacit endorsement of the continued legality of those products.
Miller believes the best path forward is to address McConnell’s concern with regulation but avoid an outright ban.
“There are products out there that masquerade as CBD, but are actually high-THC gummies. Mitch McConnell is right that we’ve got to crack down on that — but the solution isn’t to destroy the legitimate, non-intoxicating products everyone agrees are effective,” Miller said.
The story may not conclude for some time. With a government shutdown in play, Congress may not end up passing the bill and instead opting for another continuing resolution, which leaves spending levels unchanged and usually does not make any policy changes like the one being forwarded on hemp.
Barr’s $250 bill pitch
Rep. Andy Barr is staying busy in Washington. Some of that work might be related to his current run for U.S. Senate, where the backing of Trump is seen as a potentially decisive factor in a crowded.
In a recent op-ed, Barr expressed strong support for his colleague Rep. Joe Wilson’s, R-S.C., bill to put Trump’s face on a new $250 bill.
“This proposal is more than symbolic. It is a tribute to a president who has reshaped America in historic ways. President Trump has revolutionized American politics, delivered the largest working families tax cut in American history, and is cleaning up the biggest mess on our southern border ever,” Barr wrote.
Part of the reason for the bill is the upcoming 250th anniversary of the country’s founding. Currently, $100 bills are the highest-value notes still in print.
Barr also lauded Trump’s foreign policy, saying “No president has made a stronger case for the Nobel Peace Prize.” Former president Barack Obama, a Democrat, won the prize in 2009.
Even more timely, Barr recently filed a bill to “put an end once and for all” on government shutdowns. The bill would automatically trigger a continuing resolution, but 1% less funded overall, in the event Congress is unable to pass its normal budget bills. Another percentage point would be cut every 30 days Congress can’t pass a bill.
Work in Washington is something that Barr can use to his advantage on the campaign trail, unlike former Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Lexington tech entrepreneur Nate Morris. However, it cuts both ways. Morris and Cameron will also be able to appear at events in Kentucky while Barr could be tied up with legislative work in the nation’s capital.
Amy McGrath reaction
As the saying goes: Social media is not real life.
But it does count for something.
When I reported that Amy McGrath, a former Democratic candidate in the 6th Congressional District and for U.S. Senate, was seriously considering another run at Senate in 2026, several social media users chimed in.
It was the most engagement a post of mine has ever received on Bluesky, an alternative to X, formerly Twitter, often frequented by more progressive users. The dominant theme there was exhaustion.
McGrath raised well over $90 million in her losing 2020 bid against McConnell, who beat her by about 20 percentage points. Afterward, that led many Democrats to complain that the money might have been spent better in a state less red than Kentucky, which Trump just won by 30 points.
“As a Kentucky resident, I cannot stress enough to well-meaning out-of-state liberals enough that under no circumstances should you donate a single cent to her potential campaign, there is no scenario in which she could win,” one user wrote.
Others turned to humor.
“Yass queen, please waste even more of everyone’s money and time,” one person wrote.
Another brought up an old article from The Onion, a satirical news site, titled “Amy McGrath Blows Remaining Campaign Funds on Lavish Concession Bonanza.”
But McGrath still has advantages as a candidate.
Chief among them is name ID. Even if more involved Democrats want to turn the page, new candidates in a crowded field will be hard-pressed to get their name better-known than McGrath, whose story as the first woman to fly a combat mission in the U.S. Marine Corps rocketed her to party fame in 2018 and whose statewide network and funding at the very least introduced her to voters in every corner of the state.
Candidates who have raised money before also tend to be more successful at raising in additional races. Donor and contact lists are prized possessions in politics, and McGrath, with her campaigns and political action committees bringing in millions from donors across the country.
How much money one can raise is a key evaluating factor for Democratic leaders like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who generally value a candidate who will make Republicans spend more than they would otherwise.
