Quick return for Feinstein’s vote on judge

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) vote to move the stalled nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick this summer made Republicans more willing to work with her on another important issue: an anti-gang bill that she had worked on for over a decade.

Before Feinstein surprised her fellow Democrats and liberal advocacy groups by casting the key vote in committee for Southwick in August, it did not appear the conservative nominee would reach the Senate floor.

{mosads}Feinstein was not the only Democrat to benefit from Southwick’s approval by the Judiciary Committee. Two months later, when Democrats agreed to confirm him to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Republicans allowed passage of the Labor – Health and Human Services appropriations bill, which contained funding for many top Democratic priorities. Those included $4 million in projects sponsored by Feinstein.

GOP sources say that the timing of the actions was not merely coincidental. Instead, cooperation on a nominee important to Republicans helped speed the passage of the Democratic priorities.

The good will that Feinstein fostered with Republicans by voting for Southwick and the legislative accomplishments that sprang from it may help explain Feinstein’s vote Tuesday for attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey despite outspoken opposition from other Democrats. Feinstein was one of two Democrats on the Judiciary Committee to announce support for Mukasey. The other was Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), who knew the nominee from New York legal circles and even recommended him to the White House as a consensus choice for attorney general.

Feinstein’s vote strengthens her reputation as a bipartisan dealmaker and may help her win Republican support for future votes.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the lead Republican cosponsor of Feinstein’s gang bill, said her vote on Southwick smoothed a path for the legislation. The $1.1 billion bill has been a high priority for Feinstein because gang violence is a major problem in her home state. In Los Angeles, 60 percent of homicides and 70 percent of criminal shootings are gang-related, said a Feinstein aide.

“I think that was probably helpful,” said Hatch, who explained that without Feinstein’s help on Southwick, the gang bill could have passed anyway but “with a little more pain.”

Hatch, the second-ranking Republican on Judiciary, said the Democrats’ decision to schedule Southwick for a floor vote likely helped them avoid delay on the Labor-HHS bill, one of their biggest legislative priorities.

“I think that did open the doors to get more people working together,” said Hatch.

Democrats passed the labor bill the evening before they voted to confirm Southwick on Oct. 24.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), another Republican member of Judiciary, initially opposed Feinstein’s gang bill. He said he came around to supporting it after Feinstein narrowed its scope.

“My concerns were that we don’t want to turn federal prosecutors in the Department of Justice to prosecuting local gangs,” said Sessions. “It [was] pared down a good bit.”

Sessions said that Feinstein’s support of Southwick also likely helped her avoid Republican objections, although he emphasized that he was unaware of a quid pro quo.

“Republicans have to feel that she’s willing to act independently if she feels it’s the right thing,” said Sessions. “So probably I think that strengthens her in some ways in getting things she wants done.”

A GOP aide who helped Feinstein remove Republican obstacles to her bill said he used her vote for Southwick as an argument.

“I think it did help shame Republicans into not putting retaliatory holds on the bill,” said the aide. “We used that argument. We shamed them into not holding the bill.”

The Republican aide said he helped Feinstein even though he felt her bill contained some wasteful spending, such as funds for midnight basketball programs, which he said have not proved effective in reducing gang crime.

Scott Gerber, Feinstein’s spokesman, noted that his boss had worked more than 10 years on the gang bill and that it has 44 Senate cosponsors, including 14 Republicans.

He said that Republican objections had slowed the bill in its final stages.

“It was cleared on the Democratic side,” he said. “We went to Hatch as the lead Republican cosponsor and asked for help because there were holds on the Republican side.”

The bill became more palatable to Republicans after the authors deleted a gun provision that would have prohibited persons convicted of gang-related crimes from owning firearms, said Gerber.

But Schumer cast doubt on the notion that Feinstein’s vote may have had ulterior motives.

“No one studies the issues more closely than Dianne,” he said. “One thing is for sure: She makes her decisions on the merits.”

The legislation provides $411.5 million for gang prevention programs, $270 million for witness protections programs, and about $250 million for federal, state, and local efforts to prosecute gang crimes.

It passed the Senate by unanimous consent on Sept. 21.