Joe Lieberman holds on as a Senate panel chair
Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who this fall campaigned hard for Republican presidential nominee John McCain and spoke at the Republican National Convention, got only a mild rebuke Tuesday from Senate Democrats. On a 42-to-13 secret ballot vote, Senate Democrats agreed to let Lieberman keep the chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, but sharply criticized him for comments he made about President-elect Barack Obama during the campaign.
| News Videos | Cartoons | Entertainment | U.K. | U.S. | Take Our Poll | Sports | World | Follow Us On Twitter
LOANS: Lawmakers press Paulson on changes in plan | Climate: Obama lifts California push for change
Lieberman, who prior to running as an independent in 2006 was a lifelong Democrat, was stripped of a minor subcommittee chairmanship within the Environment and Public Works Committee, but was allowed to keep the helm of the Armed Services Committee’s AirLand panel.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he was angry at Lieberman’s actions, but added, “this was not a time for retribution.” Aiding Lieberman was Obama’s disinclination to see the senator punished.
Lieberman was contrite after the vote, telling reporters: “There are some [comments] that I made that I wish I had not. In the heat of campaigns, that happens to all of us, but I regret that, and now it’s time to move on.”
Some senators were unforgiving, citing Lieberman’s October comments that Obama was “naive” about world affairs and that the Democratic Party “is not the Democratic Party of my dear friend Bill Clinton.”
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) recalled how Lieberman described an Obama vote against Iraq war funding as a vote to put American forces in danger.
Leading the effort to support Lieberman were Sens. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), who argued that his state benefited from retaining Lieberman in a powerful position.
They pointed out that Lieberman had been a faithful party member all his life and was its 2000 vice presidential nominee.
His support for the Iraq war led to his defeat in Connecticut’s 2006 Senate Democratic primary. Lieberman then ran as an independent and won the general election, garnering a huge majority of the Republican vote.
He caucused with Democrats in the current Congress. The Senate had 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans and two independents —- Lieberman and Bernard Sanders of Vermont—- who sided with the Democrats.
Had Lieberman caucused with the GOP, Republicans would have had the majority since Vice President Dick Cheney would have held the tiebreaking vote.
Take Our Poll:
| News Videos | Cartoons | Entertainment | U.K. | U.S. | Take Our Poll | Sports | World | Follow Us On Twitter
