Sen. Lieberman meets with Reid, mulls options

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, took a first step on Thursday toward finding out what his punishment will be for backing Republican John McCain for president.

Lieberman met privately with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who afterward expressed Democratic concerns and said they would have more talks before deciding what to do.

Having expanded their majority in Tuesday's election, Democrats no longer need Lieberman as a member of their caucus to retain control of the Senate.

Lieberman, re-elected in 2006 as an independent after losing the Democratic primary in Connecticut, has given no indication that he might join the Republican Party. But Senate Republicans say they would welcome him to their reduced ranks.

Democrats said the lawmaker may be stripped of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee, but keep the chairmanships of one or two subcommittees.

They said they do not expect Reid to expel Lieberman from their caucus, but the Connecticut independent might decide to leave.

Lieberman spoke briefly to reporters after meeting with Reid.

"The election is over, and I completely agree with (Democratic) President-elect (Barack) Obama that we must now unite to get our economy going again and to keep the American people safe," Lieberman said.

"That is exactly what I intend to do," Lieberman said. "And those are the standards I will use in considering the options that I have before me."

Neither he or Reid explained what options he had.

Lieberman backed McCain over Obama for president largely because McCain, unlike Obama, supports the Iraq war.

Democratic aides noted that with the exception of the war, Lieberman has routinely voted with the party on matters from the environment to health care.

In a written statement, Reid said: "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," Reid said.

In endorsing McCain, Lieberman became the first nominee of a major party presidential ticket to later support a candidate of the opposing party.

(Editing by Xavier Briand)