{"id":102034,"date":"2018-01-08T12:51:23","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T19:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/with-colorado-in-mind-gardner-stands-up-to-trump\/"},"modified":"2018-01-08T12:51:23","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T19:51:23","slug":"with-colorado-in-mind-gardner-stands-up-to-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/with-colorado-in-mind-gardner-stands-up-to-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"With Colorado in mind, Gardner stands up to Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=1a0a5fe7-3a3d-480a-81d1-b91b9248d4ae&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=1a0a5fe7-3a3d-480a-81d1-b91b9248d4ae&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=800 800w, https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=1a0a5fe7-3a3d-480a-81d1-b91b9248d4ae&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=1200 1200w, https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=1a0a5fe7-3a3d-480a-81d1-b91b9248d4ae&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=1800 1800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 2000px\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1307\" alt=\"Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., says he will place a hold on Department of Justice nominees and will try to push legislation to protect marijuana sales in states where the drug is legal after Attorney General Jeff Sessions withdrew a federal policy that allowed recreational markets to emerge.\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., says he will place a hold on Department of Justice nominees and will try to push legislation to protect marijuana sales in states where the drug is legal after Attorney General Jeff Sessions withdrew a federal policy that allowed recreational markets to emerge.<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Associated Press file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>WASHINGTON \u2013 For Republicans who have found themselves at odds with President Donald Trump or his policies, there have generally been just two options: buckle, as former deficit hawks did on the recent tax bill, or give up entirely, as two senators did in deciding to retire.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s Cory Gardner.<\/p>\n<p>The junior senator from Colorado is not one of the loud and persistent GOP critics who have become fixtures on cable news. In fact, he and Trump align on most issues.<\/p>\n<p>But Gardner \u2013 who also heads the campaign operation charged with hanging on to the Republicans\u2019 Senate majority \u2013 is becoming known as someone who will do more than posture when he and the Trump administration disagree.<\/p>\n<p>The latest and most striking example came Thursday, when Gardner, who is 43, announced that he will stand in the way of every nomination that the Justice Department sends to the Senate. Late last year, he and Trump were in opposition over the Alabama Senate race.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCory didn\u2019t look for a fight in either case. It came to him, and he responded vigorously. And to me, that\u2019s the model,\u201d said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who knows Gardner well.<\/p>\n<p>His latest move came in protest against Attorney General Jeff Sessions\u2019 new policy allowing federal prosecutors to crack down on the marijuana industry \u2013 a reversal of Obama administration policies and a blow to states such as Colorado that have legalized cannabis despite federal law against it.<\/p>\n<p><\/p><div class=\"naviga-social-embed\">&lt;![CDATA[\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p>CO 141 NB\/SB: Full closure at Slick Rock. Crash. The road is closed due to a semi crash. Alternate routes advised and expect delays. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Cl3hhy59UM\">https:\/\/t.co\/Cl3hhy59UM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CDOT (@ColoradoDOT) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ColoradoDOT\/status\/1226991935438483456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">February 10, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><br>\n]]&gt;<\/p><\/div>\n\n<p>\u201cThis reported action directly contradicts what Attorney General Sessions told me prior to his confirmation. With no prior notice to Congress, the Justice Department has trampled on the will of the voters in CO and other states,\u201d Gardner tweeted.<\/p>\n<p>His position is undoubtedly beneficial to his own political situation, given the popularity of legal marijuana in his home state, a battleground where he will be facing re-election in 2020.<\/p>\n<div class=\"naviga-element naviga-subheadline1\">Politically savvy<\/div>\n<p>While Colorado defies any party label, it has a strong libertarian streak. In 2012, it became one of the first two states to legalize pot for recreational use; a year later, voters there recalled two state senators who had voted for stricter gun laws.<\/p>\n<p>Though he has a staunchly conservative voting record, Gardner, a former Senate staffer and state lawmaker, has proved skillful at navigating his state\u2019s tricky political terrain.<\/p>\n<p>His 2014 campaign ads touted him as \u201ca new kind of Republican.\u201d After Gardner\u2019s victory over incumbent Democrat Mark Udall, Bloomberg News dubbed him \u201ca Purple Superhero.\u201d Meanwhile, he maintains a demeanor so cheerful that Washington Post columnist George Will once described him as a \u201chuman sunbeam.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a very substantive senator, but he\u2019s also a very politically savvy senator,\u201d said former Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams. \u201cFrankly, he will suffer some backlash from loyal Trump Republicans for doing this, but Cory looks at the bigger picture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gardner also took the opposite side from Trump and the Republican National Committee in last month\u2019s contentious Senate election in Alabama, a contest that sharply divided Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>After GOP candidate Roy Moore was accused of making sexual advances toward underage teens, there was an initial rush by the party to distance itself from its own nominee.<\/p>\n<p>But when Trump endorsed Moore, the Republican National Committee resumed its financial aid to the candidate \u2013 something that Gardner, as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, refused to do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re seeing a very able politician position himself personally on issues that are important to his state. And both the marijuana issue and the issue of sexual harassment are going to be pretty important in a swing state like Colorado,\u201d Cole said.<\/p>\n<p>Though his Alabama stance put him at odds with both the president and the national party organization, \u201cit didn\u2019t matter to me. There was no amount of pressure that would have changed my decision because it was the right thing to do,\u201d Gardner said in an interview.<\/p>\n<p>Still, some of his Republican colleagues resented the high profile he took against Moore, particularly when Gardner vowed to move for Moore\u2019s expulsion from the Senate if he were elected.<\/p>\n<p>It made the situation more awkward for other Republicans, said one party strategist. \u201cHe put a lot of people in a bad spot.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"naviga-element naviga-subheadline1\">Listening to voters, his conscience<\/div>\n<p>If Gardner\u2019s position on Alabama caused problems for other Republicans, so has Sessions\u2019 stance on pot \u2013 because it divides social conservatives from libertarians, both of whom are essential parts of the GOP base.<\/p>\n<p>Gardner\u2019s counterpart at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., pointed to Gardner\u2019s outspokenness as a sign that there could be a budding bipartisan coalition to resist the directive, which Van Hollen also opposes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis may be an area where you have common cause between some Democrats and Republicans,\u201d Van Hollen said in an interview with The Washington Post and Politico on C-SPAN\u2019s \u201cNewsmakers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gardner was also one of the earliest Republicans to criticize Trump for not singling out white nationalists as the culprits for violence last summer in Charlottesville that led to the death of one counterprotester.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. President \u2013 we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism,\u201d Gardner wrote in a tweet at the time.<\/p>\n<p>In the interview this week, Gardner said he is focused on following the will of voters back home \u2013 and the dictates of his own conscience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I\u2019m concerned about is the people of Colorado, doing what\u2019s right for them. And issues of standing up against accusations of child molesting in Alabama or up against racism and bigotry,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cI\u2019m going to do what\u2019s right, and it doesn\u2019t matter who is in the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before agreeing to vote to confirm Sessions, Gardner said, he had demanded assurances from the nominee that the administration would not move against Colorado\u2019s marijuana industry. Though Gardner had personally opposed legalization, he said, he believed the will of Colorado voters should be respected.<\/p>\n<p>Sessions assured him \u201cthat the Trump administration simply didn\u2019t have this on their agenda,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t have room for it. They didn\u2019t plan on doing it, and that Trump honestly wasn\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked about that discussion, senior Justice Department officials declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>Gardner has been in touch with Sessions again after announcing his plan to oppose the department\u2019s nominees unless it relents on changing the marijuana policy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s just say, there was no reconciliation of difference,\u201d the senator said. \u201cWe are going to have a conversation next week.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"naviga-element naviga-subheadline1\">DACA is next<\/div>\n<p>Meanwhile, Gardner is likely to be embroiled in another tense situation with the Republican White House soon.<\/p>\n<p>He and fellow Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, are co-sponsors of the Dream Act, which would grant legal status and a path to citizenship to immigrants who were brought to this country illegally when they were children. One in five Coloradans is Hispanic.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, however, has rescinded an Obama-era program \u2013 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA \u2013 that shielded those young immigrants from deportation.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats have made restoring the program a top priority; Trump has said he will not do so unless he also gets funding for the border wall that was one of his signature campaign promises.<\/p>\n<p>Gardner said a compromise may be possible \u2013 but that it will require the Trump administration to get more heavily involved in the negotiations and clear about precisely what it wants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think there is a bipartisan path to provide border security, to move forward on a solution for children of a very young age brought here through no fault of their own,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think this is a zero-sum game. I think there is common ground for a victory.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senator opposes federal decision about marijuana enforcement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[21,13,24],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-102034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-u-s-sen-cory-gardner"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102034"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=102034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}