While the Senate has been locked in a battle over the confirmation of President Bush’s judicial nominees, two very partisan congressional leaders from Illinois, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D), have figured out a way to avoid a fight over their home-state judicial picks.

There is a reason an Illinoisan is not involved in the confirmation controversies. It’s because the “advise” part of advise and consent is stressed among the Land of Lincoln powerbrokers. They have a deal only to recommend to the White House potential nominees whom everyone back home can live with. The arrangement guarantees the party out of power a voice in picking federal judges.

Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, in a session last week with the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board, said he is working with the Republican Speaker “more closely than ever” since Durbin ascended to his new leadership post in January.

When the latest judicial vacancy developed, Durbin said, he phoned Hastert and told him, “You’re the man now.”

Under a deal Durbin made with former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.), Illinois Democrats get to offer up names for one out of every four judicial slots, since the GOP holds the White House. Republicans, with Bush in the White House, get three out of every four openings. If a Democrat were president, the ratio would be reversed.

Since Illinois now has two Democratic senators — the other, of course is freshman Barack Obama — Durbin’s call to Hastert came because, with no GOP senator, Hastert is next in line to take the lead over judges, not to mention third in line in the presidential succession order.

In the latest round, it was the Democrats’ turn to suggest a nominee. The only wrinkle that developed, Durbin said, was that the White House asked for more than one name to consider. Hastert recommend that they go along with the request. So last month, Durbin and Obama, with the backing of the Speaker, sent Bush two proposed nominees for an opening on a federal bench in Chicago.

Hastert’s Northeast swing. During Hastert’s road trip over the Memorial Day recess, he made a rare touchdown in New England, territory the Hastert political operation usually ignores as not being worth the Speaker’s time. That Hastert traveled to Massachusetts and Vermont showed that he sees the benefits of mining very blue states for political green.

Hastert hit Pittsburgh a week ago Tuesday for a funder for Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and then flew in his private plane to Allentown for an event to benefit Rep. Charles Dent (R-Pa.).

The Speaker got some ink for his next stop, a fundraising lunch in Greenwich, Conn., for Rep. Christopher Shays, who gained a reputation as a maverick partly because of his willingness to criticize the House leadership.

After that, Hastert headed to Burlington, Vt., for two fundraising events, one for his own House war chest.

Hastert keynoted a funder to help bolster the state GOP because of the upcoming races triggered by the retirement of Sen. Jim Jeffords, the independent who bolted from the GOP, and the probable opening of the Green Mountain State’s only House seat.

Rep. Bernie Sanders, an independent socialist who is tiny Vermont’s solo House member and votes with the Democrats, is expected to run for the Jeffords seat.

And since he was in the neighborhood, Hastert headed to Boston for a first-time visit to the Democratic bastion to scoop up checks for his House fund.

Sweet is the Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it