{"id":8052,"date":"2018-02-07T12:17:33","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T12:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=2941685"},"modified":"2018-02-07T12:17:33","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T12:17:33","slug":"cory-gardners-siege-of-the-justice-department-over-marijuana-enters-second-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/cory-gardners-siege-of-the-justice-department-over-marijuana-enters-second-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Cory Gardner\u2019s siege of the Justice Department over marijuana enters second month"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/cory-gardners-siege-of-the-justice-department-over-marijuana-enters-second-month\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 It\u2019s been a month <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/01\/04\/cory-gardner-jeff-sessions-marijuana-policy\/\">since the pot blockade began<\/a>, and U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner is standing firm in his vow to jam all appointments to the Department of Justice until Attorney General Jeff Sessions softens his stance on marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>So far, his siege to protect both Colorado\u2019s cannabis industry and the state\u2019s sovereignty has prevented as many as 11 nominees from getting a Senate floor vote \u2014 the last major step before they can start work \u2014 and there is little indication that Gardner, R-Colo., and Sessions are any closer to finding common ground.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt may never resolve itself,\u201d said U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the committee in charge of getting these nominees to the floor.<\/p>\n<p>If that happens, the consequences would extend far beyond the 11 nominees that Gardner has put on ice.<\/p>\n<p>More than 20 other candidates are in the congressional pipeline for Justice-related jobs, including U.S. marshals and U.S. attorneys assigned to states across the country. One even hails from Colorado: David Weaver, a former Douglas County sheriff <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2017\/11\/17\/donald-trump-nominates-dougco-commissioner-us-marshal\/\">in line to become the state\u2019s next U.S. marshal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The backup could get even longer as President Donald Trump nominates additional candidates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSenator Gardner does a <a href=\"https:\/\/fop.net\/CmsDocument\/Doc\/PR%20-%20Gardner%20holds.pdf\">real disservice<\/a> to the nation as a whole and we urgently ask him to reconsider his rash and ill-advised obstructionism,\u201d said Chuck Canterbury, president of the National Fraternal Order of Police. \u201cPolicy differences should be worked out by a dialogue and not turn into hostage situations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the root of the fight is a decision last month by Sessions to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/01\/04\/jeff-sessions-rescinding-legalized-marijuana-policy\/95875\/\">rescind an Obama-era policy<\/a> that generally left alone states such as Colorado that have legalized marijuana, which remains illegal on a federal level.<\/p>\n<p>While the change hasn\u2019t led to federal raids on pot dispensaries \u2014 and business largely has continued as usual \u2014 the move still sent shock waves through the fledgling cannabis industry.<\/p>\n<p>Gardner wasn\u2019t able to convince Sessions to reconsider <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/01\/10\/cory-gardner-jeff-sessions-marijuana\/\">when the two Republicans met last month<\/a>, though aides to the Colorado lawmaker said the two sides haven\u2019t given up on negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur staff and DOJ staff continue to talk and meet to discuss a path forward which recognizes Colorado\u2019s state\u2019s rights and ensures law enforcement has the authority and tools needed to protect our communities,\u201d said Casey Contres, a Gardner spokesman, in a statement. \u201cThese discussions continue to be necessary and we appreciate their willingness to have them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barring a breakthrough with the Justice Department, Gardner\u2019s next-best bet to change federal policy on marijuana is through legislation.<\/p>\n<p>Straight-up legalizing marijuana is unlikely, and so lawmakers have discussed the idea of drafting language that would prohibit the Justice Department from spending funds on enforcing pot laws in states that have OK\u2019d the drug.<\/p>\n<p>Congress has done so\u00a0before, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/12\/22\/federal-budget-medical-marijuana-rohrabacher-blumenauer-extended\/95178\/\">protect medical marijuana<\/a>, but this time lawmakers are looking to do the same for recreational use \u2014 an uncertain proposition.<\/p>\n<p>Typically, this kind of provision would be attached to some kind of must-pass legislation, such as an annual funding bill.<\/p>\n<p>Federal lawmakers, however, have been unable to agree on a 2018 spending plan, and they\u2019ve kept the government open \u2014 aside from a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/01\/23\/daca-in-colorado-activists-pressure-lawmakers\/\">brief shutdown in January<\/a> \u2014 through a series of stopgap bills.<\/p>\n<p>Another short-term bill is expected this week, and congressional aides said it\u2019s not being targeted as the vehicle for the marijuana provision.<\/p>\n<p>That means it could be another month or more before there\u2019s a chance to resolve the issue \u2014 and another month in which Gardner is expected to keep up the pot blockade.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe opposed the legalization of marijuana in 2012 but is not going to sit back and let Colorado\u2019s rights be trampled on by the federal government,\u201d Contres said.<\/p>\n<p>Under Senate rules and tradition, lawmakers are allowed to put a hold on nominees put forward by the White House \u2014 a tactic that\u2019s often used to extract concessions from the executive branch. These holds can be overridden, but doing so requires party leaders to chew up valuable time on the Senate floor.<\/p>\n<p>For the time being, Gardner\u2019s hardball approach hasn\u2019t caused much public strife among his Senate Republican colleagues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can understand why he did it,\u201d said Grassley, who nonetheless disagreed with Gardner\u2019s argument for states\u2019 rights. \u201cI\u2019m an advocate for federal law under the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/08\/supremacy-clause-states-rights-federal-marijuana-law\/75041\/&amp;sa=D&amp;ust=1517959640401000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHv5T_e1rNSA1IaYnpSW3Dh_fI2qQ\">Supremacy Clause<\/a> of the constitution that federal law overrides state law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A U.S. marshal nominee\u00a0from Grassley\u2019s home state of Iowa is in limbo because of Gardner\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>He\u2019s not the only one. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky also is awaiting a floor vote for a U.S. marshal candidate in his state.<\/p>\n<p>Aides to McConnell did not respond with comment, though Grassley said it\u2019s up to him to broker a solution and end the siege.<\/p>\n<p>Said Grassley of the nomination process: If McConnell \u201cisn\u2019t willing to intervene then\u00a0you know it all stops.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside> <\/aside>\n<aside> <\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s been a month since the pot-blockade began and U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner is standing firm in his vow to jam all appointments to the Department of Justice until Attorney General Jeff Sessions changes his approach to federal marijuana policy. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6907,6811,6857,7163,6964,6813,6848,77,5667,9,7293,6855,5019,441,1,3,1525,61,1736],"tags":[6909,6816,6859,7165,6967,6818,6851,2655,5673,7294,6856,5022,3015,4093],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8052"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}