Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz is wading into the debate over hemp ripping through the halls of the Senate this week, asking the chamber to keep a provision in the continuing resolution that would delay an impending ban on hemp products. Trump signed an executive order rescheduling marijuana as he touted the benefits of CBD in December 2025, while Oz unveiled a new CMS pilot program on CBD. Oz’s pilot program allows eligible Medicare beneficiaries at participating healthcare providers to purchase $500 worth of hemp-derived products annually for medical purposes. That program, called the Substance Access Beneficiary Engagement Incentive, uses the 2018 Farm Bill language to define hemp. Budd responded to Oz’s letter on X, pointing to the hemp “loophole,” which allows for intoxicating hemp products to be sold in common places like gas stations, that proponents of the ban have raised alarm bells about.