The democrats are calling the shots. While Trump is still in the White House, the Senate is firmly in the hands of Democrats.
So the question now is whether or not they have enough power to get a legalization bill up to the president’s desk.
We know many elected officials have the hunger for it. The House has passed multiple bills over the years that would legalize marijuana at a federal level. The Senate, however, has been a much more difficult hill to climb. Nothing has ever passed through due to its thorny 60 vote threshold to get past a filibuster, but Schumer, the upcoming majority leader, has sponsored bills that would legalize.
With the Democrats being just a handful of votes short of a 60 vote majority, it would only require some Republicans to jump ship for sweeping legislation to pass. There are only a few that come to mind, with Rand Paul at the top of that list. Cory Gardner from Colorado, Dan Sullivan in Alaska (if he wins his re-election run in the state), or Steve Daines in Montana have also expressed some openness to reform at varying levels. However, even if all of these Senators got on board, it still may not get passed the 60 count needed.
Then there’s the open-ended question of Donald Trump. His opinion on the matter has changed often, and as of now it seems he’s sitting at a spot where he’s open to whatever, as long as it’s popular. If there was enough pressure behind a campaign, I’m confident that he would sign it into law.
So the real uncertainty comes from the handful of Republican Senators needed for this to happen. As of now, it doesn’t seem likely. We’ll have to see how Senators respond to the question in the months ahead, and whether or not Democrats decide to make this a priority.
Read the original article at Marijuana Moment.
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Originally published on Weed Deep Dive.
