McConnell Pleased That 'Unrelated Nonsense' Like Cannabis Reform Wasn't In NDAA: What's Next?

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is pleased that the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was unveiled on Tuesday, doesn’t contain marijuana banking reform.

“Just as Republicans insisted, just as our service members deserve, this NDAA is not getting dragged down by unrelated liberal nonsense,” McConnell said. “Good smart policies were kept in and unrelated nonsense like easier financing for illegal drugs was kept out.”

McConnell noted that this principle should be applied to the expected omnibus appropriations bill that some lawmakers think could present another way to push the SAFE Act forward.

“I’m glad this Democrat-led Congress finally realized that defending America is a basic governing duty. It’s not some Republican priority that Democrats can demand unrelated goodies to be wheeled into it,” he said. “Neither party—let alone a sitting president’s party— can ever have the mindset that they need to be goaded or bartered into supporting our troops.”

“We made it clear we wouldn’t be going down that road. Our Democratic colleagues finally accepted it,” McConnell continued. “Now that same lesson must carry over into our subsequent conversations about government funding.”

McConnell previously called on Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to strip the pot-related language from the defense bill on Tuesday before NDAA was revealed.

“House and Senate Democrats are still obstructing efforts to close out the NDAA by trying to jam in unrelated items with no relationship whatsoever to defense,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. “My colleagues across the aisle need to cut their unrelated hostage-taking and put a bipartisan NDAA on the floor.” 

Schumer responded, “This is something, again, that’s had bipartisan support. We’ve been working with Republicans. It’s a priority for me. I’d like to get it done. We’ll try to discuss the best way to get it done.”

Standalone As A Better Option? 

McConnell is not the only senator who disagreed with Democrats' adding marijuana banking reform to the NDAA. Republican Senators Jim Inhofe said he would “vote against my own bill” if it included unrelated items like marijuana banking. And Kevin Cramer, who is a co-sponsor of the SAFE Act, also said he didn’t support passing the reform that way.

Meanwhile, Rep. Ed Perlmutter said, “I’m not giving up on this darn thing yet,” revealing his plan to attach the reform to the pending omnibus appropriations legislation.

The Colorado Democrat made the announcement at a House Rules Committee meeting on Wednesday, according to Marijuana Moment. Bicameral and bipartisan support is needed “if we try to attach it to the appropriations bill," he said.

If McConnell has the power to impact his Senate colleagues, it’s possible that marijuana banking reform won’t end up attached to the spending bill either. Perhaps just like Cantor Fitzgerald's Pablo Zuanic said on Wednesday - if the SAFE is to pass at all this lame-duck session, it will have to be on a standalone basis.

Photo: Benzinga Edit; Sources: Wikimedia Commons and 2H Media on Unsplash