The cannabis industry continues to spend millions of dollars on high-powered lobbyists to sway U.S. senators to pass marijuana reform, but those efforts could be thwarted this fall by a government shutdown that threatens to upend Congress’ legislative calendar.
U.S. marijuana companies and trade groups spent more than $2.4 million lobbying the U.S. Senate in the first half of 2023, according to the most recent federal lobbying disclosure filings.
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That’s less than the $2.9 million spent on trying to woo the Senate over the second half of 2022, including the lame-duck session when cannabis banking reform seemed tantalizingly close.
Still, this year’s dollars have been funneled to influential lobbying firms stocked with Capitol Hill veterans, including a former Democratic Senate majority leader and a former top aide to President Joe Biden.
While some companies have curbed spending or canceled contracts entirely given the economic and financial
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