Warren kicking sand
Massachusetts needs clarity from the Trump administration about how it plans to treat states that have legalized recreational marijuana, since that arrangement conflicts with federal law. We suspect U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be more eager to work with some Massachusetts officials than others to clear up the confusion.
Obama administration policy was essentially to turn a blind eye to states that made pot legal for recreational use. But White House press secretary Sean Spicer last month said almost offhandedly that the Trump administration may step up enforcement. Questions abound.
State Treasurer Deb Goldberg, whose office must implement the voter-approved pot law, last week wrote to Sessions asking for “further explanation.”
“Fiscal responsibility requires predictability, and I want to ensure that we fully understand the DOJ’s intentions,” she wrote.
U.S. senators from the “pot states” have also written to Sessions, asking him to continue the Obama administration policy. The first signature on that letter was that of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. And in her case Sessions may not be in a rush to reply.
Sessions, of course, has been on the receiving end of relentless vitriol from Warren since he was nominated to be AG. His career, she said, has been “defined by hostility to civil rights, immigrants & the rule of law.” She suggested he is a racist, sexist bigot; decried his “radical hatred” and called him dangerous. She was rapped on the knuckles for maligning Sessions on the Senate floor — a punishment she then used as a fundraising tool ($25 T-shirts).
Amid revelations about Sessions’ undisclosed meetings with the Russian ambassador Warren called on him to resign. But now she needs a favor.
OK, so it’s not actually a “favor” when a senator consults the sitting AG on a serious policy matter. And we would expect Sessions to set aside any personal pique in fulfilling his duties. (U.S. Sen. Ed Markey also voted against Sessions, and also signed the letter.)
But it’s hardly helpful to the folks back home when a senator puts her ideological interests before the practical interests of her state. Demonizing the party that holds the White House and controls Congress may score her yet another hit on MSNBC — but how does it serve Massachusetts?