The GOP-controlled Congressional Committee blocks an amendment to fund psychedelic clinical trials at the Defense Department

A bipartisan amendment that was proposed by a key House committee to a bill on spending would have allocated another $10,000,000 to the Department of Defense to fund clinical trials examining the potential therapeutic benefits of substances, such as ibogaine.

Under appropriations legislation that was enacted last session, DOD is already mandated to conduct the trials, with $10 million in previously provided funding, to investigate the medical value of psychedelics for active duty military members.

Now, the House Rules Committee is refusing to let the floor vote be held on an amendment made to the DOD’s funding bill that will cover Fiscal Year 2026. That amendment was intended to provide additional support for the DOD to expand the research scope as they move to achieve their mandate.

The panel also cleared another 330 amendments, on topics unrelated to the military legislation.

Led by Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), a Navy SEAL veteran himself who has been candid about his own experience benefitting from ibogaine and 5‐MeO‐DMT, the amendment would have transferred the $10 million to „enable DoD Wide psychedelic medical clinical trails for the Defense Health Program research, development, test and evaluation,” according to a summary from its sponsors.

According to a Luttrell spokesperson, if an amendment is adopted the funding will be „placed in the Defense Health Program Research and Development” line at DOD.

Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Sara Jacobs (D-CA) and Nancy Mace (R-NC)—as well as Reps. Jack Bergman (R-MI) and Lou Correa (D-CA), who serve as co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus—were also sponsors of the proposal.

Bipartisan legislators and other stakeholders are continuing to make progress in the debate on psychedelic medicines.

For example, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) recently said the psychedelic ibogaine represents an „astonishing breakthrough” in the nation’s current „sick care system” that’s left people with serious mental health conditions without access to promising alternative treatment options—and he intends to use his influence to advance the issue.

In a Fox News article last week, the Navy SEAL veteran who was credited with the killing of Osama Ben Laden stated that the psychedelic treatment has helped him deal with the trauma that he suffered during his military service. The Navy SEAL said that the therapy „works”, and it should be available as a form of treatment.

That interview came days after the U.S. House of Representatives included an amendment to a spending bill from Correa and Bergman that would encourage VA to support research into the benefits of psychedelics in treating medical conditions commonly affecting military veterans.

Last month, meanwhile, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his agency is „absolutely committed” to expanding research on the benefits of psychedelic therapy and, alongside of the head of FDA, is aiming to provide legal access to such substances for military veterans „within 12 months.”

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins also disclosed in April that he had an „eye-opening” talk with Kennedy about the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine. In April, Collins said he was open to the notion of the VA providing vouchers for veterans to use psychedelic medicine outside VA.

Collins also recently visited a facility conducting research on psychedelics, and he reiterated that it’s his „promise” to advance research into the therapeutic potential of the substances—even if that might take certain policy changes within the department and with congressional support.

The secretary’s visit to the psychedelics research center came about a month after the VA secretary met with a military veteran who’s become an advocate for psilocybin access to discuss the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine for the veteran community.

Collins also briefly raised the issue in a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump in April.

Meanwhile last month, bipartisan congressional lawmakers asked the VA head to meet with them to discuss ways to provide access to psychedelic medicine for military veterans.

In a letter sent to Collins, Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI)—co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus—said they were „encouraged by your recent remarks about the importance of pursuing research into psychedelic treatments and other alternative treatments to improve Veterans’ care.”

Correa and Bergman separately introduced a bill in April to provide $30 million in funding annually to establish psychedelics-focused „centers for excellence” at VA facilities, where veterans could receive novel treatment involving substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.

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Bergman has also expressed optimism about the prospects of advancing psychedelics reform under Trump, arguing that the administration’s efforts to cut spending and the federal workforce will give agencies „spines” to tackle such complex issues.

Kennedy, for his part, also said in April that he had a „wonderful experience” with LSD at 15 years old, which he took because he thought he’d be able to see dinosaurs, as portrayed in a comic book he was a fan of.

Kennedy criticized the FDA’s prior administration for „suppressing psychedelics”, and other matters that, he claimed, amounted a „war against public health”. He said that this would be ended under Trump.

In December, VA separately announced that it’s providing $1.5 million in funding to study the efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with PTSD and alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Last year, VA’s Yehuda also touted an initial study the agency funded that produced „stunning and robust results” from its first-ever clinical trial into MDMA therapy.

Shereef Enahal, the ex-VA Under Secretary of Health who served under Shereef in VA from 1996 to 1999 said „it was very encouraging” when Trump chose Kennedy to head HHS and that Kennedy had supported psychedelic reform. And he hoped to work with him on the issue if he stayed on for the next administration, but that didn’t pan out.