Todd Blanche: The Man Who Could Move Cannabis to Schedule III

Six days ago, Todd Blanche became the most important person in cannabis — and most people in the industry have no idea who he is.

When President Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 2, Blanche stepped in as acting attorney general, inheriting a stalled rescheduling process that could reshape the entire cannabis industry. The president's directive was clear: don't wait for a permanent replacement. Get it done.

But to understand why that matters, you need to understand the man holding the pen.

From Denver to the DOJ

Todd Wallace Blanche was born in Denver in 1974 and took a path to power that didn't run through the Ivy League. He graduated from American University in 1994, then worked as a paralegal during the day while attending Brooklyn Law School at night — supporting a young family while building his credentials.

After graduating in 2003, Blanche spent over a decade as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York's violent-crimes division, eventually rising to supervisor. In 2017, he moved to the private sector, becoming a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, one of the oldest law firms in the country.

Then came the phone call that changed everything.

Trump's Lawyer, Then Trump's DOJ

Blanche became one of Trump's lead defense attorneys, representing the former president across three criminal cases — the Manhattan hush-money trial, the classified documents case, and the January 6 prosecution brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. He sat beside Trump during the 34-count conviction in New York. He was the one whispering strategy when the stakes were highest.

When Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, he brought Blanche inside. The Senate confirmed him as Deputy Attorney General on March 5, 2025, in a 52–46 vote, largely along party lines. As the number-two official at the DOJ, Blanche oversaw 115,000 employees and, by multiple accounts, ran the department's day-to-day operations — even when Bondi was still in charge.

Industry sources say Blanche was already the person inside the DOJ actively working on the final rescheduling rule while Bondi held the title. Cannabis attorney Brian Vicente told MJBiz that the administration appears to be taking steps to make the process "legally and procedurally sound." Jushi executive Trent Woloveck went further, calling Blanche "a big net positive" who has been directly involved in conversations around drafting the final rule.

What He's Actually Said About Cannabis

Here's where it gets interesting — and a little thin.

During his Senate confirmation process, Senator Peter Welch of Vermont asked Blanche directly about marijuana rescheduling. His written response was cautious but not hostile: he said he would "give the matter careful consideration after conferring with all relevant stakeholders, including DEA personnel."

He added: "I have not had occasion to study this particular issue. If confirmed, I think it is important to empower our U.S. Attorneys, who we trust to follow the law and to follow Department rules."

That's not a champion's answer. It's not an opponent's answer either. It's the answer of a lawyer who doesn't want to commit to a position before he controls the process. For cannabis advocates, that ambiguity is both the risk and the opportunity.

The Rescheduling Timeline: Where Things Stand

The path to Schedule III has been a long one. Here's the condensed version.

President Biden initiated the review in 2022. HHS completed its scientific evaluation and recommended moving cannabis to Schedule III. The DEA published a notice of proposed rulemaking in May 2024. An administrative hearing was scheduled for January 2025 — then postponed when a party filed an interlocutory appeal, effectively freezing the process.

On December 18, 2025, Trump signed an executive order titled "Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research," directing the attorney general to "take all necessary steps to complete the rulemaking process related to rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III of the CSA in the most expeditious manner."

The order also directed HHS to develop models for Medicare coverage of CBD products, with seniors eligible for up to $500 annually in reimbursement as early as April 2026. That piece is already triggering legal challenges — Smart Approaches to Marijuana filed for an emergency restraining order within 24 hours of the CMS pilot program's announcement.

Then Bondi was fired. And Blanche stepped in.

As of today, April 8, 2026, reports indicate that Trump wants Blanche to sign the final rule himself rather than waiting for the Senate to confirm a permanent attorney general — a process that could take months, especially if the nominee is EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, whose limited legal experience would invite intense Senate scrutiny.

What Schedule III Actually Changes (and What It Doesn't)

This is where the cannabis industry's enthusiasm often outpaces the legal reality.

Moving cannabis to Schedule III would eliminate the crushing tax burden of IRS Section 280E, which currently prevents cannabis businesses from deducting ordinary business expenses like payroll, rent, and utilities. That alone could transform the economics of every licensed operator in the country.

It would also ease barriers to research by removing Schedule I's multi-layered authorization requirements, potentially opening normal procurement channels for scientists studying cannabinoids.

What it would not do: legalize recreational cannabis federally, create interstate commerce for cannabis products, automatically deliver criminal justice reform, or resolve the ongoing tension between state-legal markets and federal prohibition. State dispensaries might actually face increased federal oversight, as Schedule III substances require DEA registration for lawful distribution.

The Congressional Research Service put it plainly: "Moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, without other legal changes, would not bring the state-legal medical or recreational marijuana industry into compliance with federal controlled substances law."

Reform advocates like the Marijuana Policy Project were blunt in their assessment: the move is welcomed, but "a move to Schedule III does nothing to end hundreds of thousands of possession arrests each year, nor does it do anything to fix the untenable, ongoing disconnect between federal prohibition and the regulated state markets."

What to Watch in the Next 60 Days

The next month or two will determine whether rescheduling actually happens in 2026 — or stalls again. Here's what to track.

Blanche's first moves. Does he move to finalize the rule quickly, or does he punt to a permanent AG? Every indication so far is that Trump wants speed, and Blanche has the institutional knowledge to deliver. But "expeditious" in federal rulemaking terms can still mean months.

The Zeldin question. If Trump nominates Lee Zeldin as permanent AG, his confirmation process will pull attention and political capital. Zeldin's record on cannabis is mixed — he voted against federal legalization in 2020 and was absent for a key vote in 2022, but supported medical cannabis protections and VA doctor recommendations. A lengthy confirmation fight could create a window where Blanche has both the authority and the incentive to act on rescheduling before a new boss arrives.

Legal challenges. Anti-cannabis groups, particularly Smart Approaches to Marijuana, have signaled they will challenge the final rule the moment it drops. They've already sued over the CMS hemp reimbursement pilot. The rescheduling rule's procedural soundness — whether the DOJ dotted every administrative law "i" — will determine whether those challenges succeed.

The hemp definition shift. In November 2025, Congress changed the legal definition of hemp to be based on total THC concentration rather than just delta-9 THC. That change takes effect November 2026 and will interact with rescheduling in complex ways. FDA enforcement policy on CBD products entered active federal review in March 2026. These aren't separate stories — they're different fronts in the same regulatory war.

The Bottom Line

Todd Blanche is not a cannabis advocate. He's not a prohibitionist. He's a prosecutor-turned-political-operative who has spent the last year running the DOJ's daily operations and, by all accounts, building the institutional groundwork for the rescheduling rule his boss ordered.

The question isn't whether Blanche personally cares about cannabis reform. The question is whether the legal and political machinery around him — Trump's directive, the DOJ's draft rule, the looming Zeldin confirmation, and the inevitable litigation — aligns in a way that a final rule gets signed in the next 60 days.

If it does, Todd Blanche will be the man who moved cannabis off Schedule I for the first time in 55 years. Not because he's a believer, but because the politics, the process, and the president all pointed in the same direction at the same time.

That's how policy actually happens. Not with passion. With paperwork.