Two Coloradans will appear before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow for hearings on their nominations to serve as federal trial court judges in Colorado.
After a months-long standoff between Colorado’s two senators over three names that were submitted as potential trial judges, Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, announced today that the committee will review the nominations of Assistant U.S. Attorney Phil Brimmer and attorney Christine Arguello. Former assistant U.S. attorney Greg Goldberg’s nomination will not advance to a hearing tomorrow as part of the compromise.
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo, had submitted “blue slips” or his final recommendation to the committee for Goldberg and Brimmer. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo, had submitted blue slips for Goldberg and Arguello. After being told late last week that Leahy’s committee would schedule two nominiations for Tuesday’s meeting, Salazar and Allard spent the weekend working out a compromise.
Brimmer was received top rating of the three from the American Bar Assocition. Arguello has been a favorite of Salazar’s for years, having served as a deputy attorney general under Salazar. So Goldberg’s name was dropped, at least for this session of Congress which ends in three weeks.
Neither senator would comment directly, with staff members stating that Sen. Leahy’s committee dictated only two nominations from Colorado would be heard tomorrow. The committee will discuss five nominations, including two from Utah. No other hearings are scheduled for this session, which ends the first week in October.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
