Update: Per The Hill, somewhat as predicted, Holy Joe kept his one committee chairmanship -- and surprisingly he kept one of his subcommittee chairmanships (the one on the Armed Services Committee).
And, per ABC, Sen. Ted Stevens expulsion discussion was put on hold until the Senate knows whether Stevens was reelected by Alaska or not.
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By the end of the day, so say the pundits and the insiders, Sen. Joe Lieberman will still caucus with the Democrats; he'll still be the retain chairmanship for the Senate Homeland Security committee, but will lose chairmanships to two subcommittees: one a panel of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the other of the environment and public works committee.
So reports the Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, and CQPolitics, among others.
Sen. Ted Stevens is also up for a likely expulsion vote today -- CQPolitics doesn't think retribution will be exacted in this case either -- the L.A. Times reports that:
Some Republicans say they are inclined to postpone the vote until after the outcome of Stevens' reelection contest. Stevens was one of the most popular and influential of Alaska's politicians until his conviction for falsifying financial disclosure forms. He has appealed.
So, if you're looking for anything more than slaps on the wrist of Sen. Lieberman and Sen. Stevens by the end of today, don't hold your breath. Stay tuned.
And, if you were looking for decisive action by either party for the next congress in 2009 and 2010, I believe one just got one's first look-see at how thing are going to go for the session...slow, and similar in character to how business has been done for congresses past for quite awile now. |
