While the nation is abuzz over rumors of who President-Elect Obama will appoint to his cabinet, and as we await news from the remaining Congressional races, some encouraging news -- or at least an encouraging rumor. Sam Stein reports that Harry Reid is meeting with Joe Lieberman today. His sources claim this meeting is to inform Lieberman that he will no longer chair committees when the Senate reconvenes in January.
Lieberman currently chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, as well as the Subcommittee on Private Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection, and the Subcommittee on AirLand Forces.
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.
Should this come to pass, the next question is whether Lieberman will choose to caucus with the Republicans. Does he want to be in the minority for the next four years before his term ends? We shall soon see.
UPDATE: The meeting has taken place, but no definitive reports yet on what happened. The Boston Globe says Lieberman "gave a very Sphinx-like statement this afternoon about his future in the Senate," not indicating whether he was in the Democratic caucus or any details about his chairmanships. Meanwhile, the Hartford Courant reports that Connecticut Democrats had their own meeting today:
Connecticut Democrats fed up with Sen. Joe Lieberman are eagerly waiting to hear what happens in Washington, but their own censure resolution now pending before the state central committee is pretty clear about what should be done.
Lieberman's "extraordinary disloyalty" means he should resign from the party. Lieberman's "support of right-wing candidates cannot be reconciled with the ideals and values of the Democratic Party," the resolution states.
If any news from the Reid-Lieberman meeting leaks from other sources, I will update the diary.
UPDATE 2: Per davidkc's comment, The Hill is reporting Lieberman will keep committee posts "for now." Reid's 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."
Unless Joe bolts to the Republican caucus in the next few days, it looks like we won't know his status until mid-November at the earliest. Whether this is one of Harry Reid's sternly-worded letters lacking teeth or the first step in expelling Lieberman from the caucus remains to be seen.