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SENATE DEMOCRATS have voted to allow Independent senator Joe Lieberman to remain chairman of the homeland security committee despite his strident support for Republican John McCain in the presidential election.

Mr Lieberman, who was the Democratic vice-presidential candidate in 2000, will lose his place on an energy subcommittee as punishment for his harsh criticism of Barack Obama during the campaign. The Connecticut senator told colleagues that he regretted some of his remarks during the campaign and spoke of the hurt he felt when he lost the Democratic nomination for his Senate seat in 2006.