2025 Shutdown Ends Amid Hemp Cronyism
Senate defeats Rand Paul's amendment protecting Kentucky hemp farmers. ACA enhanced premium subsidies expire in bipartisan vote. ACA regular subsidies remain.
So, it appears the 2025 government shutdown will be coming to a close, as the government “reopens” soon. We’ll get into the meat of this article shortly, but just wanted to recap the facts, as I keep hearing bizarre non-factual bits from various people trying to blame “the other side” for the shutdown. I’ve never seen so much misinformation slung around, even by the MSM!
Know this: Through at least 2026, Americans who buy their insurance through the ACA Marketplace (www.healthcare.gov) will still get subsidies; the rub is that they will not get the enhanced subsidies that were temporarily put in place from 2021 and 2022, and were designed by the Democratic Party majority to expire at the end of 2025. This whole government shutdown was political theater, with the enhanced subsidies taking center stage, not the regular subsidies. Got it now?
FACT: ACA (Obamacare) enhanced premium subsidies were enacted due to COVID, and were created and passed by a Democratic majority. The American Rescue Plan in 2021 expanded the regular subsidies, and the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 extended them to 2025. The enhanced subsidies were set to expire at the end of this year. Democrats chose to have these enhanced premium subsidies (not the regular ACA subsidies) expire on 12/31/2025. Democrats set the sunset date.
FACT: There was a bill to continue funding the government (the so-called “clean CR”).
FACT: Chuck Schumer saw this as an opportunity to extend what Democrats had set in motion to sunset at the end of 2025. He thought he had leverage to extend their self-imposed deadline. His strategy did not work, and while the enhanced ACA subsidies will go away at the close of this year, the regular ACA subsidies will remain.
During all the horse-trading, various OTHER items got lumped in the spending bill in the so-called “clean CR,” like suddenly making hemp derivatives illegal, which favored large corporations over small farmers.
So, Rand Paul put forth a motion to remove that provision from the spending resolution, as it would harm Kentucky’s hemp industry. The Senate tabled Paul’s amendment last night, November 10, 2025. The vote on Paul’s amendment was 76 to 24. Most Republicans joined Democrats to block it. The CR then passed the Senate with a 60-40 vote. Paul voted against the final bill. The measure effectively ends the shutdown once the U.S. House passes the CR and President Trump signs it.
This outcome shows cronyism in action. Free markets suffer when regulations protect insiders.
