Vulnerable House Democrats have received several nicely packaged legislative victories as they prepare to head home to campaign in their competitive districts.

It was largely the generosity of the Democratic leadership that led to these pre-August-recess achievements, which can be bragged about to constituents.

Republicans, however, see the emperor without clothes, claiming the bill and sponsor parings are solely intended to give those most vulnerable Democrats something to hang their hats on come Election Day — although, if true, it was certainly a tactic the GOP employed when in the majority.

One bill that raised eyebrows was introduced by one of the newest members of the House, Don Cazayoux (D-La.), who won a seat Republicans held for more than 20 years. His election was the second of three special-election victories this year that gave Democrats seats previously held by Republicans.

The bill Cazayoux sponsored would require the director of national intelligence to conduct an assessment on the relationship between rising energy prices and national security concerns. Titled the National Energy Security Intelligence Act, Cazayoux, who sits on neither the Intelligence nor Energy and Commerce committees, saw his measure — in one week’s time span — go from being introduced to passing by a 414-0 vote.

Joining him in sponsoring the bill were a who’s who of Democrats facing tough races. That includes fellow special election winner Rep. Travis Childers (Miss.) along with Reps. Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.), Nancy Boyda (Kan.), Peter Hodes (N.H.), Carol Shea-Porter (N.H.) Patrick Murphy (Pa.) and Ron Klein (Fla.). Klein is the only one of the sponsors not listed by The Cook Political Report as being in a competitive race, and only Murphy sits on the Intelligence Committee.

“There are no two issues more current and more salient than our energy situation and our national security,” Cazayoux said in a press release trumpeting the July 24 House vote.

The first legislative act of Illinois special-election winner Bill Foster, who got the Democrats started in their special election victories, was to resolve a major Republican objection to the initial version of Rep. Barney Frank’s (D-Mass.) housing bill. Republicans raised concerns about the possibility of felons renting or buying homes that state and local governments would buy as part of a multi-billion-dollar federal grant program.

Foster, who was elected from the district of former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), was given the bill that resolved the issue. Foster’s bill inserted language into the housing bill barring anyone convicted of a sex offense, mortgage fraud,  or drug-dealing in the last five years, from repurchasing government-bought foreclosed homes.

Just this week Giffords, who represents 120 miles of the most loosely guarded border area with Mexico, was allowed to take the lead on a bill that is seen as critical for conservative Democrats being questioned on illegal immigration.

The bill would extend the E-Verify program — an immigration enforcement measure that allows employers to electronically check the legal work status of prospective employees — for five years before it expired in October.

Giffords had been backing an alternative verification system and had even testified against E-Verify, saying its success in Arizona, where it was part of a pilot program, had been mixed at best.

And on Thursday Childers, who gave the Democrats their third special-election victory in a GOP district, filed a bill backed by the National Rifle Association and crafted by the conservative Blue Dog Democrats to rein in the D.C. gun ban. Cazayoux and Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), another vulnerable Democrat, signed on as co-sponsors.

The campaign arm of the House GOP derided the legislative handouts as a way for Democrats to take cover for their leadership’s refusal to allow a vote on oil and gas drilling in currently protected areas — an issue that the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) has been hammering away at through a steady stream of press releases in many of these vulnerable Democrats’ districts.

“This is proof-positive that Democrats are well aware of the fact that the energy issue presents a significant political liability for their members,” said NRCC spokesman Ken Spain.

But energy legislation is one area where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) refuse to bend, even to help a struggling caucus member.

Two weeks ago, after two straight losses on their “use it or lose it” bill, leaders turned to the lawmaker who is considered the most vulnerable House Democrat this cycle — Rep. Nick Lampson, who is running for his second term in former Majority Leader Tom Delay’s (R-Texas) old district. The leadership let him introduce their plan to release 70 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

But the leadership insisted on a strategy that required a two-thirds majority to pass the bill. As a result, Democrats — and Lampson — fell short of getting the votes they needed, and the bill failed.

Asked about a simple-majority vote that would have given him a major victory to take home, Lampson only smiled and said: “It would have been nice.”

Mike Soraghan contributed to this article.