A Few Good Allies

We know that 13 Senators voted to strip Joe Lieberman's committee chair yesterday. Published reports before and after the vote listed Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders as opposed. Now we can add Jeff Merkley:

U.S. Senator-elect Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) spoke up in a Senate Democratic caucus meeting on Tuesday regarding whether U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) would be stripped of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee after he supported former presidential candidate John McCain in the November election [...]

“Jeff Merkley did speak at the meeting, and he expressed how profoundly disappointed he was with Lieberman’s actions,” Edwards said, adding that Merkley said he had been a big supporter of the Connecticut Senator when he was a vice presidential candidate in 2000, and that thousands of Oregon Democratic volunteers worked tirelessly on his behalf. “He also believes that the chairmanship is not an entitlement, it’s a privilege.”

And Barbara Boxer:

The resolution that passed today did not reflect Senator Boxer's belief that Senator Lieberman should remain in the Democratic caucus but not retain his full Committee Chairmanship- she voted accordingly.

Good votes by both of them. In a Senate where one member holds a tremendous amount of influence, it's going to be important in the future to cultivate these relationships.

...also important to note that President-elect Obama clearly wanted Lieberman to remain in the caucus and by proxy in the committee chair, so these two were willing to buck the leader of their party on this vote. That kind of independence is frankly needed from the legislative branch.