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With the DC gridlock loosening, KY lawmakers are keeping their eye on more than just government funding

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., departs following a classified briefing on President Donald Trump's directed strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last weekend, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., departs following a classified briefing on President Donald Trump's directed strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last weekend, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Most Kentucky Republicans in Washington are applauding the deal to end the record-breaking government shutdown, while the state's only Democrat on the hill says his party should keep fighting.

The deal to fund the government through January, along with a handful of other bills keeping military, veterans, and other programs afloat through most of next year, is proving popular with Republicans broadly.

Speaking to Breitbart, Rep. James Comer declared the deal struck by his party and the eight Senate Democrats who broke with their ranks a complete capitulation.

"It's a 100% total surrender," he said. "The Democrats gained nothing. They put a big percentage of the American people through a lot of unnecessary pain."

Fellow Kentucky Congressman Brett Guthrie appeared to concur, posting to social media that the deal is a "long overdue win in support of our military families, air traffic controllers, federal employees, and those relying on SNAP benefits."

Louisville Democratic Rep. Morgan McGarvey said the promised Senate vote on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies isn't the outcome his constituents want.

"They don't want a vote on healthcare. They want affordable. Now is the time to stand up. It's not the time to cave," he said.

Hemp Hurdle

Meanwhile, the movement on the funding logjam has other Kentucky lawmakers who have been less enthusiastic about any of the spending plans on offer awaiting the fallout on tangential issues.

Tucked inside the Senate's government funding bill is a provision that drew objections from Sen. Rand Paul, who has been sounding an alarm for months over language he and hemp industry advocates claim will amount to something like prohibition for a host of hemp and CBD products.

THC products that Texas lawmakers are seeking to ban are seen at the Dope Daughters dispensary, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Eric Gay/AP
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AP
THC products that Texas lawmakers are seeking to ban are seen at the Dope Daughters dispensary, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Paul attempted to strip the provision out in a failed bid Monday.

"The bill as it now stands overrides the regulatory frameworks of several states, cancels the collective decisions of hemp consumers, and destroys the livelihoods of hemp farmers," the senator said.

At the heart of the debate are proposed regulations on the amount of detectable THC, with proponents of the changes arguing they're necessary to close a loophole that's allowing for new intoxicating products on the market.

"My 2018 Farm Bill... sought to create an agricultural hemp industry, not open the door to the sale of unregulated, intoxicating, lab-made, hemp-derived substances," Sen. Mitch McConnell said.

Kentucky's senior senator and others have raised concerns about the ease of access to those substances, especially by children. Paul has said he and other critics are willing to work with the other side to find a compromise, but have been met with resistance.

Still, even at its earliest start date the hemp provision would not take effect for a year, giving some in the industry hope that a new deal could be reached in that time.

Petition Pause

Should the House vote to reopen the government, the expected swearing-in of incoming Democratic Rep.-Elect Adelita Grijalva could tip the scales in favor of Congressman Thomas Massie's discharge petition forcing a vote on Jeffrey Epstein-related materials in the chamber.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., stands during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
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AP
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., stands during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Massie has been leading the charge to garner the necessary 218 signatures in the House to push the measure through.

Grijalva has promised to sign on, potentially sealing the deal, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has refrained from swearing her in during the shutdown.