Partisan tensions were so high on the first day of the government shutdown that a House Democrat forced the chamber to vote on the question of whether a GOP poster depicting Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer violated House decorum rules. The poster pictured Schumer with a comment he made in 2013 saying that a government shutdown “is the politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis.” Republicans were using it as a prop as they gave floor speeches seeking to cast blame on Senate Demo... Read more

WASHINGTON — Colorado braced Friday for the possibility of a government shutdown as lawmakers on Capitol Hill appeared no closer to reaching a deal before a late-Friday night deadline. The most immediate impact on Colorado — as with the rest of the country — would be the furlough of thousands of federal workers whose jobs are deemed non-essential by the administration. Excluding the U.S. Department of Defense, there are at least 36,000 civilian federal jobs in Colorado at agencies that range fro... Read more

Amidst a broken deal on immigration, which some Democrats blame on the President Trump, Colorado’s congressional Democrats have joined in a resolution asking for a censure of the president. The resolution, HRes. 700 was introduced Thursday. It calls on Congress to censure the president over his reported remarks on Jan. 11 in which he called African nations, El Salvador and Haiti “shitholes” that send immigrants unqualified to be Americans. Trump indicated he preferred immigrants from Norway. He ... Read more

A bipartisan group of 15 senators on Thursday joined the chorus of Congress members calling on the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s to keep intact marijuana banking guidance. FinCEN guidelines established in 2014 outlined how financial institutions should approach banking services with marijuana-related businesses. That Obama-era guidance provided “much needed stability for a growing market,” U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. and 13 other senators wr... Read more

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) joined 170 House colleagues in sending a letter to President Trump expressing support for keeping the federal government open while pressing for the inclusion of urgent bipartisan priorities in any funding resolution. “Mr. President, it is clear that your budget priorities and ours are in significant conflict. However, there are many bipartisan priorities that we can swiftly deliver for the good of the American people, in addition to keep... Read more

Washington, D.C. – Today, nearly 150 House Democrats introduced a resolution to censure President Trump for the racist “shithole” comments he made about Haiti and African countries during a bipartisan January 11, 2018, meeting on American immigration policy. “President Trump’s reported remarks are disgraceful and unacceptable. We are a nation of immigrants who come from all over the globe to pursue their version of the American Dream. We welcome immigrants and embrace our diversity because that’... Read more

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) released the following statement after voting against the Republican majority’s Continuing Resolution: “Today we find ourselves in the same spot we were in four weeks ago, and in another month when this fourth CR is set to expire, we will likely be in a similar situation. This is no way to govern. In order to reach a real solution that will fund our government and address some of these pressing issues, we must work together. I stand ready and wa... Read more

A bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Arvada to open up financial institutions for the marijuana industry picked up the endorsement of 19 state attorneys general on Tuesday. The bill would address one of the the biggest headaches for the marijuana industry in Colorado: the lack of access to banks. It’s a public safety headache, too, since cash-only businesses are more susceptible to crime. What’s stopping most banks and credit unions is the potential criminal and civil liability they co... Read more

Colorado’s congressional delegation continued their effort this week to block the federal government’s new crackdown on marijuana use and sales … except for one congressman. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, is siding with the Justice Department as it seeks to prosecute marijuana offenses under federal law, regardless of whether state laws in Colorado or elsewhere allow consumption and sale of cannabis. “The federal government has the right and responsibility to uphold federal laws,” Lambor... Read more

Longtime congressional proponents of marijuana banking provisions are urging the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to keep intact marijuana banking guidance. FinCEN guidelines established in 2014 — outlining how financial institutions should approach banking services with marijuana-related businesses — provided stability for a burgeoning new industry, U.S. Reps. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., and Denny Heck, D-Wash., wrote in a letter sent Wednesday to FinCEN leadership. “Leaving you... Read more