Who?
Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) — Small Business & Entrepreneurship and Joint Economic Committees
LISTEN: Laslo & Budd
Ask a Pol asks:
You and Sen. James Lankford have a new marijuana bill — post-rescheduling by President Donald Trump — that blocks the Department of Justice from relaxing the federal prohibition on cannabis that was ordered via Executive Order?
Key Budd:
“Correct. It’s a bad idea. I think it’s bad policy,” Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) exclusively tells Ask a Pol Drugs. “And it’s not good for workforce. It’s not good for economic growth.”
Caught our ear:
“The president was given bad information. The President thought he was making a good decision — and I support the President on the vast majority of his policies — but I think he was poorly advised,” Budd tells us.
Have you conveyed that to the Justice Department and Attorney General Pam Bondi?
“Yeah, I have,” Budd says. “I’ve conveyed it directly to the President.”
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Ted Budd (2-5-2026)
SCENE: Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo hops a crowded elevator with Sen. Tedd Budd and an aide in the US Capitol.
Matt Laslo
You and [Sen. James] Lankford, your new bill on marijuana — post-rescheduling by [President Donald] Trump…
Sen. Ted Budd
Okay.
Laslo
…you don’t want DOJ to implement the rescheduling — according to the bill?
Budd
Correct. Yeah.
Laslo
Why is that important?
Budd
Because I think it’s a bad idea.
Laslo
Yeah?
Budd
I think it’s bad policy.
Laslo
Yeah?
Aide
We’re going down.
Budd
And it’s not good for workforce. It’s not good for economic growth.
Laslo
One argument administration folks say is this opens it up for more testing.
Budd
No, that’s a misnomer. You don’t need to change the scheduling in order to do the testing. What they’re trying to do is end-run the process. If they want to test it through regular FDA means, then please proceed. But they’re trying to skip that. I just don’t think that’s a good idea. The president was given bad information. I think he…
Laslo
Huh.
Budd
The President thought he was making a good decision — and I support the President on the vast majority of his policies — but I think he was poorly advised.
Laslo
Have you conveyed that to DOJ [Department of Justice]?
Budd
Yeah, I have. I’ve conveyed it directly to the president.
Laslo
Oh, yeah?
Budd
Unfortunately, we disagreed on it.
Laslo
But it seems like because DOJ hasn’t laid out the final rule…
Budd
Look, I don’t think anything pro-marijuana will age well. I mean, it’s harming our children. So let’s leave it scheduled as is.
Laslo
Yeah?
Budd
And then you can still test. Look, we’re still testing opioids. They’re still, you know, they’re still testing heroin. All these things that are Schedule I. Let’s leave it as is and test it.
Laslo
Yeah?
Budd
Pretty clear?
Laslo
Yeah.
Aide
Name and outlet?
Laslo
Matt Laslo. One of my clients is Marijuana Moment. I have a wire service (www.TheLCB.com), so it’ll show up there.
Budd
Sure. They’re gonna love it!
Laslo laughs.
Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo’s covered drug policy for Playboy, Rolling Stone, VICE News Tonight, Daily Beast, VICE News, etc. He’s also a new media Lecturer & the founder of the interactive political journalism startup, Ask a Pol.
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AI Disclosure
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