DEA Judge Pauses Marijuana Rescheduling Case Over GAO Report Motion

The Drug Enforcement Administration's marijuana rescheduling case has been stayed. In a September 29 order, Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek C. Julius paused the proceeding “pending the Motion's resolution” after three interested parties asked to add a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to the record. The order does not rule on the motion, and it does not change marijuana's federal schedule.

The Key Points

What the Order Says

The merits hearing ran from June 29 through July 15, 2026. On September 28, the three interested parties filed a joint motion asking for leave to file supplemental briefing, to admit a supplemental exhibit, and to stay the proceeding. The exhibit is the GAO report titled “Drug Scheduling: While DEA Decisions Have Aligned with Recent HHS Recommendations, Both Need Comprehensive Policies,” published September 23. They want it entered as Finn Exhibit 126 or as an ALJ exhibit through official notice, followed by additional briefing on how it affects the case, “if at all.”

The movants also asked the tribunal to hold its recommended decision and certification of the record until that briefing is finished. Judge Julius wrote that he “finds merit in this argument that, if the record were to be extended to also include the GAO Report, a stay would be warranted to await briefing on it,” and that a stay is also warranted while he considers whether to admit the report at all. The stay therefore lasts until the motion is resolved. The order sets no end date for it.

What Happens Next

• October 13: the government must file its response to the motion. The order caps it at 20 pages, double-spaced, with one-inch margins.
• Other parties: the remaining interested parties may respond by the same date under the same page limits, but they are not required to.
• The ruling: the judge will then decide whether to admit the GAO report and allow supplemental briefing. If he does, the stay is likely to continue through that briefing. Neither outcome is certain.

Why It Matters

This is the administrative track for the part of marijuana that April's order left in Schedule I, including recreational marijuana. In April, the Justice Department moved marijuana covered by a state medical license and marijuana in FDA-approved drug products to Schedule III. A separate DEA hearing, the one now paused, is weighing whether to reschedule the rest. We covered the hearing's structure in our explainer on how rescheduling moves from hearing to record to litigation, and the corrected transcripts in our report on DEA's published hearing record.

Until the judge decides this motion, the proceeding cannot move to the next step. That means no recommended decision from the tribunal and no certified record, and a final rule is further off. The order gives no timeline for any of those steps, and CannaWize could not confirm one.

What Isn't Resolved Yet

The order does not describe the GAO report's findings, and this article does not characterize them beyond the title and date given in the order. It also does not say whether the government will oppose the motion. Whether the report is admitted, and whether it changes any party's arguments, are open questions until the judge rules. Separately, the D.C. Circuit challenges to the April order are still pending; see our report on the court's denial of a stay. CannaWize will update this article when the government responds or the judge rules.