Ensign puts Reid’s son on judge list

Benjamin Grove

Monday, May 5, 2003 | 11:10 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- In an intriguing political move, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., included Leif Reid, the son of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., on a short list of recommendations for President Bush to consider for a federal judge post.

A judge will be needed to fill the spot of U.S. District Judge David Hagen of Reno, who will assume senior status, and fewer duties, later this year.

As the senator of the president's party, Ensign last week forwarded the names of four potential judicial nominees to the White House. Bush will nominate one to the Senate, which confirms federal nominees. Ensign has not released the names of the other three recommendations.

Reid and Ensign declined comment. The two senators had said that they had an agreement that Ensign would recommend three judicial candidates and allow Reid to recommend the fourth. The Senate has confirmed Ensign's first three recommendations.

But Reid had nothing to do with his son making Ensign's short list, although Reid is honored that Ensign would nominate him, Reid spokewoman Tessa Hafen said.

"This was entirely Senator Ensign's decision," Hafen said.

Hafen said Reid approved of all four of Ensign's recommendations.

Reid and Ensign are friends, although their political views on most issues contrast sharply. The two have sided with their respective parties in recent, bitterly partisan Senate battles over federal judicial nominees.

Ensign's move raised eyebrows in political circles in Nevada. But there haven't been open complaints about it by Republicans, said Nevada Republican Party director Joe Brezny. Still Republicans seized on the Ensign recommendation to take a jab at Reid for adamantly opposing several of Bush's GOP nominees.

Leif Reid "should be given the same consideration as Miguel Estrada," the embattled nominee whose nomination is stalled, Brezny said. "We need to be consistent in how we look at these candidates."

In a carefully worded statement, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who is considering whether to challenge Reid for his Senate seat, said, "Clearly, Sen. Ensign believes that (Leif Reid) is prepared to take a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. As all future nominees are considered, I hope that the highly skilled, well qualified nominees currently before the Senate may be approved in a timely manner, without the unprecedented filibusters that continue to stonewall the advice and consent process."

Leif Reid was not available for comment. Reid, 35, is a 1995 Stanford law school graduate and works as a lawyer in the Reno office of Lionel Sawyer & Collins. The firm is the largest in Nevada and also employs Sen. Reid's three other sons, Rory, Josh and Key. Leif Reid focuses on commercial, energy, utilities and administrative law.

It's not the first time a senator's son has been considered for a federal post. In 2001 the Senate confirmed former Sen. Strom Thurmond's son as U.S. attorney in South Carolina. Last year the Senate approved David Bunning, who was recommended by his father Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., to be a federal judge.

There's nothing improper about one lawmaker nominating the son of another lawmaker, said Georgetown University law professor David Cole, a federal courts expert.

"There's no nepotism bar or anything like that," Cole said. "You apply the same standards that you would to any other nominee."