GARDNER BACKS OFF HIS BLOCK ON APPOINTMENTS

Colorado Republican says he no longer will block appointments tied to Justice Dept.

Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner announced that he no longer will block Department of Justice appointments over Attorney General Jeff Session’s stance on legalized marijuana.

The pot siege has all but ended.

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner announced Thursday that he no longer will block more than two dozen appointments tied to the U.S. Department of Justice — a barrier Gardner put in place last month after Attorney General Jeff

U.S. Sen. Sessions rescinded

Cory Gardner an Obama-era policy that generally left alone states that had legalized marijuana.

Gardner said he took that course after he received undefined assurances from Justice Department officials about its enforcement of federal drug laws.

“As a result of those conversations there have been a number of positive developments,” the Colorado Republican said in a brief news conference with reporters. He said the Justice Department had “moved more and more” toward agreeing to “concrete protections in Colorado for our state’s voters when it comes to decisions they made related to marijuana.”

Because of that, Gardner said he no longer would impede votes on more than two dozen nominees to serve as future U.S. marshals or U.S. attorneys. He also said he would no longer block John Demers, in line to become the next assistant attorney general for national security.

That’s the lion’s share of holds Gardner put in place last month; only a handful now remain for few positions at the Justice Department.

The impact of his decision was felt almost immediately.

A few hours after Gardner lifted his holds, the Senate approved several Justice-related nominees, including U.S. marshal candidates from Kentucky and Iowa.

Kentucky is home to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Iowa is represented by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who chairs the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.

In response to Gardner’s move, Colorado Democrats accused the first-term Republican senator of getting rolled.

“This is exactly what Colorado voters have come to expect from Sen. Cory Gardner: all hat, no cattle,” said Eric Walker, spokesman for the Colorado Democratic Party.

But Gardner defended his decision as a step in the right direction.

“It’s not about whether we were going to continue holds forever,” Gardner said. “It’s about whether

we were going to get the kind of action necessary to protect the people of Colorado and states’ rights, and right now those conversations are very positive.”

Asked to specify what he got in return, Gardner said: “We’ve had very good, positive conversations about protecting states’ rights and protecting the voters of Colorado’s wishes.”

The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.

Gardner’s holds haven’t taken too much of a political or public toll, although Sessions lamented Gardner’s actions during a gathering this week of the National Sheriff’s Association.

“It’s getting frustrating,” Sessions said at the time, according to an Associated Press report. “Because right now one senator’s concerns over unrelated issues — like reversing federal law against marijuana — we can’t even get a vote.”