(AP) - A Democratic senator says Democrats are letting Sen. Joe Lieberman keep his prized chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee despite supporting Republican John McCain for president.

Sen. Tom Harkin said Tuesday the verdict came in a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill.

The Connecticut senator lost the Democratic nomination for his re-election bid two years ago over his vocal support for the war in Iraq but won in the fall as an independent.

Lieberman has stayed on the Democratic side of the aisle in the Senate but generated lots of hard feelings among Democrats for his active support of McCain this year - and his criticism of then-candidate Barack Obama. Obama has signaled to Democratic leaders that he's not interested in punishing Lieberman.

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