Joe Lieberman To Be Stripped Of Committee Chair?

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will meet with Joe Lieberman on Thursday to discuss how the disaffected, controversial Connecticut Democrat-Independent fits into the future of the party.

A source with knowledge of the situation says that Reid will likely tell Lieberman that he is being stripped of his committee chairs -- a retributive move for the former vice presidential nominee's anti-Obama, anti-Democrat advocacy on behalf of John McCain.

A second source on the Hill could not definitively confirm that this would happen. But he said that leadership was far from the position it held back in February, when it was assumed that Lieberman's committee chairmanships would be safe.

There are still various outstanding issues that have the potential to prominently change the composition of the Senate. As of now, races in Alaska, Georgia and Minnesota are still undecided. Moreover, it has yet to be determined what will happen with the spots currently occupied by Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden. And on a process level, the Senate's Steering and Outreach Committee also has the opportunity to make recommendations about committee assignments.

"There are," the source says, "a lot of moving parts. There is genuine suspense around what is going to happen to Lieberman."

Lieberman chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the subcommittee on Private Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection, and the Subcommittee on AirLand Forces. If he is booted from these posts, he very well may leave the Democratic Caucus entirely. What he can be offered by the Republican Party in terms of committee assignments remains to be seen.

Comments

[hapiguy]

If Lieberman does not go, then Reid must go,,,Joie is not a Dem,,has never been a Dem,,,self serving, non caring,,,he belongs in no mans land,,,horrible just horrible insult.

[dentuso]

Reid is going to be replaced by Hillary soon anyway. I'm absolutely sure of it.

[Golfer59]

Reid should go anyways. Hillary should get that job.

[EyeInTheSky]

Ditto!

[Mr. Cobb]

Reid, get rid of Lieberman. You will never hear the end of it from us if you don't.

[mikemillion2000]

Bye Bye Joe.. so sad, too bad (but then I'm not sad), and as my son would say:

"nah son, you can't come back to our side once you've joined my opponent"

[truth2008]

Judas will probally move to the Repub side if his removed from his chairman post. I say, so be it, enough is enough! This man not only supported mcCain, but smeared Obama.

[ChangeNeeder]

Lieberman made a choice and rejected change, let there be consequences!!!!

[jnratliff]

I hope old uncle harry takes joe out back and sets him free to become the good little republican he has proven himself to be.

[Progress08]

Can anyone explain to me why Lieberman stopped being a democrat and started being a neo-con??? I've always wondered.

[biwee]

He has ALWAYS been a NeoCon.........

[dentuso]

He was told, and believed, that the Republicans would remain in power for decades, so jumped ship.

Now that he's discovered that he was wrong, having sold his soul to the devil for the sake of power and position, his type simply aren't needed in this new government.

[CIH8U2]

He lost the primary to be the Democratic senator in connecticut so he ran as a write-in Independent. It was down hill from there. He felt betr@ yed, but is was him who ended up being the tr@ itor.

[Artos]

Progress08,

I hate to say it but I suspect it's true. Joe was very excited about getting us involved in Iraq, and keeping us there. I can only surmise that it has a connection to Israel. There are some Americans of the Jewish faith who are too much involved in doing what is good for Israel and less about the interests of America. He was so involved in that quest that because he felt that the Democrats weren't he couldn't stay loyal to them. Apparently he believed that the Republican Party was intent on waging that war and staying there, which was good enough for him. I can't see any other reason for him becoming a turncoat. From things I read at the time he made the decision, everything pointed to the reason i mentioned.

[HoracePManure]

True to form, Reid waffled.

[mredder4]

Any idea of when the outcome of this meeting will be known? It's 3:15 now, and it's hard to believe that this kind of meeting would be held late in the day.

Gimme results already!

[oneCTvoter]

Joe (maybe he can become a plumber) LIEberman was given some options and will make a decision in a couple days.

[Nohari]

When you get fired, they usually hold the meeting late in the day

[DenverBiblio]

I understand how they can strip him of his committee seats, but can they kick him out of the senate. He's an elected official. I'm rather shocked by the castration comments, i guess it's cause people understand he has balls of steel.

[Topsailsman]

Ah, Denver, you had a Palin-esque moment there.

See, when people call Lieberman numbnuts, that doesn't refer to steel. Just numb.

[KOisGod]

banish him, give him a tin cup with pencils and a basket of apples and tell him to go stand on the corner.

[annschneider1]

He is a Judas. We will NEVER forget.........and Joe knows what that means and how serious it is.

[wakeuptothecon]

dont let the door hit yea where the good lord split yea

Joe the Politician gambled and lost

BYE BYE NOW !!!!

[independent32955]

I hear what you all are saying, but I promise you, if the Dems find a way to 59 without Joe...Joe WILL be keeping his chairmanship...there's no reason to cut off one's legislative nose to spite your new President's face.

Do I think Lieberman is a steamy POS? Oh yea, of course, but this is politics and if you can find a friendly independent instead of needing to find a pissed off republican? go with the independent.

filibuster-proof is the only reason to keep Joe around.

[Topsailsman]

I see your point, but I don't think its a good strategy. By setting up Lieberman to be the 60th vote, he will have incredible power and will demand quid pro quo. He is not the person to put in that situation. I think it makes more sense to try to work with Snow and Collins in Maine and some other reasonable Republicans to get to 60 when needed, and to drive to get more Senators elected in 2010. Democrats don't have to pass every bill in the next two years. For what its worth, I don't want to "punish" Lieberman, but it is clear that he is so far out of line with the Democratic Party and even with Presidential voters that he lacks the support and perspective to be in a power position.

[Nohari]

I respectfully disagree. There's no way Joe the Senator "goes rogue" when he sess the state of the formerly-disciplined Republican party. Since the numbers don't add up to fillibuster-proof, there's no reason to give Leiberman anything. Bernie Sanders will caucas with Dems and with the close results in several southern red states, picking off one or three Republicans per vote should be easy enough.

The bottom line is that Republicans respect power and if Reid drops the hammer on Lieberman, they'll all know that he's willing to put principle above the short term tactical considerations. Note how the Reps dump all over any of their own once they're shorn from the flock (Ted Stevens, anyone?) and you've set up the table for REAL politicking when the tough issues come up.

My verdict: Thumbs Down. Give Joe about 70 days to consider what impact he can have without being a Chairman and his "political" (read: survival) instincts will kick in.

[Egalitare]

Now that Georgia is back in play, we may not need Lieberman. Yes I know that means we still fall short of the magic 60, but I agree with Topsailsman. Depending on the issue, it's probably as easy to get (depending on the issue) Snow, Collins, Grassley, Lugar or Specter to break with their leadership.

And let's remember that Lieberman is a left-of-center moderate. He's probably going to be a dependable vote on most of Obama's economic agenda without any lobbying whatsoever.

Cut him loose and dare him to caucus with the GOP. After the first month, they'll throw him out because he won't be able to support them on most of their core issues.

[GuyFawkes]

Who's voice is more annoying:

Sarah Palin or Joe Lieberman.

[oneCTvoter]

Joe's voice is whinny Sarah's is just grating.

[dentuso]

Ech.. that's like watching an episode of Alf and King of the Hill (Peggy) simultaneously.