Senator Joe Lieberman will be allowed to keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and the Airland Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Rumors had swirled that Senator Lieberman (I-Conn.), a former Democrat, would lose his chairmanship last week after his vehement support of Republican Presidential Candidate Senator John McCain. Senator Reid, for his part, said that now was not the time for “retribution,” a statement that was echoed by many Democratic senators.
- “Sen. Harry Reid just announced in a press conference on CNN that Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) will keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and the Airland Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee. Lieberman will relinquish his seat on the environment committee.” – from Lieberman Keeps His Chairmanship, at The Washington Independent
- “Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said today he regrets attacking President-elect Barack Obama during the presidential campaign. Lieberman escaped a closed-door Senate Democratic caucus vote today with his caucus membership and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chairmanship intact. Democrats agreed on a resolution that condemned Lieberman for attacking Obama during the campaign but did not eject him from the caucus or strip his committee chairmanship, as some had called for.” – from Lieberman Regrets Obama Attacks, at The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room
- “So they allowed the senator from Connecticut to keep his chairmanship. The vote was 42 to 13. It was really important to Lieberman to stay in the Homeland committee post since he authored the authorizing legislation for the Homeland Security Department. “Joe Lieberman is a Democrat. He’s part of this caucus,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who said no Democrat was angrier than he was but that he wanted to let bygones be bygones. ” – from Lieberman keeps his chair, at The Swamp
- “DNC Chair Howard Dean welcomed the decision to keep Senator Joseph Lieberman as head of the Homeland Security Committee and, consequently, in the Democratic Caucus, saying the move was pragmatic, magnanimous and politically shrewd. Speaking to the Huffington Post just moments after it was announced that Democrats in the Senate had voted to keep Lieberman as committee chair, Dean said the party had done the right thing by not giving into urges for retribution. ” – from Dean: Keeping Lieberman As Chairman Is Shrewd Move, at Huffington Post
- “It’s the position he prizes above all else — he had told Harry Reid that losing it would be “unacceptable.” And so the Democrats, feeling mighty beneficent as they bask in the glow of Barack Obama’s victory, decided to let him keep it. But these Democrats are no wimps. This ain’t the Mommy party anymore, no way. There must be repercussions. So as punishment for campaigning on behalf of John McCain, speaking at the Republican National Convention, musing that it’s a “good question” whether Obama is a Marxist, and saying that Obama hasn’t always “put the country first,” the Democrats ruthlessly stripped away Lieberman’s seat on the less prominent Private Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection subcommittee. Ouch?” – from Joe Lieberman Can Still Sit in His Favorite Chair, at Daily Intel
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