Senate Republican and Democratic leaders say they need to resolve an objection from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) about a provision in the government funding deal before they can accelerate consideration of the bill to end the 41-day shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Monday morning that there is only one “objector” to speeding up Senate consideration of the government funding package, referring to Paul, who wants to strip a provision from the package that would prevent the unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp-based products.

Paul said he’s doing his just doing his job by standing up for Kentucky’s hemp industry. He argued that he’s fully entitled under the Senate rules to use all the procedural time at his disposal to scrutinize the government funding package — which he opposes.

“Just to be clear: I am not delaying this bill. The timing is already fixed under Senate procedure. But there is extraneous language in this package that has nothing to do with reopening the government and would harm Kentucky’s hemp farmers and small businesses,” Paul said in a

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