Exiting U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar has wisely rethought his plans to fill two vacant federal judge jobs in Colorado in the waning minutes of his Senate tenure.
Had he done so, Salazar would have broken with the position he so forcefully outlined last year when he supported a bipartisan judicial selection committee for court openings.
Now, the process can — and should — begin anew.
Colorado’s two U.S. senators — Mark Udall and likely Michael Bennet — should act quickly to reformulate the same sort of committee that Salazar set up last year and solicit new candidates.
Salazar, who is poised to leave Congress within days to become Interior secretary, will forward to Udall and Bennet the names of two people he thinks ought to be recommended for the judgeships. Those candidates, he says, came out of his year-old bipartisan selection process. But a lot can change in a year.
If resumes were to be solicited again, there likely would be new possibilities. People who could not have applied for last year’s openings might now be available.
Judicial selection sparked a conflict last January when Colorado’s two U.S. senators were engaged in a battle over how to choose candidates for three open judgeships on the Colorado federal bench.
With a Republican in the White House, Republican Sen. Wayne Allard seemingly had the inside track to suggest candidates to the president. However, the Senate is charged with confirming the president’s nominees and that body was politically divided 49-49, with two independents who caucused with the Democrats.
Salazar, a Democrat, insisted a local bipartisan selection panel was the best way to forward candidates for the president’s consideration. We supported Salazar’s proposal in theory, believing the process — which involved interviews and an evaluation of qualifications — was in the public’s best interest.
We still support it, as long as it doesn’t prompt interminable delays, and hope that Colorado’s new senators will as well.
Last year’s process resulted in the successful nominations of Philip A. Brimmer and Christine Arguello to fill vacant judgeships on Colorado’s federal bench. One position remained vacant as part of a compromise between Salazar and Allard. Now, because of the resignation of another judge, there are two vacancies on the Colorado court.
Federal judgeships are prestigious positions. It is easy to imagine how they could become a political plum to hand to a favored ally.
The selection process should be reinstated to encourage a fresh slate of candidates. It is the best way to bring forth the most qualified potential judges and buoy public confidence in the judiciary.
