Lieberman Statement Answers Nothing
Denise Williams
Contributor
Posted:
11/6/08
UPDATE: The Huffington Post reports that Harry Reid asked Lieberman to give up his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security committee:Also, Lieberman's statement now below.
Reid offered Lieberman a deal to step down as chairman of the homeland security committee but take over the reins of another subcommittee, likely overseeing economic or small business issues officials said.
[snip]
At this point, Lieberman's only shot at retaining his committee chairmanship appears to be lobbying members of the Senate Democratic Leadership besides Reid. One key target would be the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, a group of nearly two dozen Democratic Senators who play a role in deciding committee seats.
Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), who has come under considerable fire by Democrats for supporting John McCain and speaking against Barack Obama at the Republican Convention, spoke today on his meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and didn't answer many questions. He basically stated that he was considering his options and did not take any questions.
Many Democrats have been agitating for Lieberman (who caucuses with Democrats) to be relieved of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security, Governmental Affairs Committees and some subcommittees.
Harry Reid released this statement:
Today Senator Lieberman and I had the first of what I expect to be several conversations. No decisions have been made. While I understand that Senator Lieberman has voted with Democrats a majority of the time, his comments and actions have raised serious concerns among many in our caucus. I expect there to be additional discussions in the days to come, and Senator Lieberman and I will speak to our caucus in two weeks to discuss further steps.
This doesn't sound good for Lieberman's standing with the Dems. Reid may be giving him some time to approach the Republicans on his own....
