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Subscribe to RSS***UPDATE*** Sen. Burr tells NBC News that Republican senators have allowed Sen. Lisa Murkowski to retain her ranking status on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
"The conference decided not to make any changes," said Burr. The conventional wisdom going into the GOP caucus meeting was the Burr would be selected to replace Murkowski.
Senate GOP Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander refused to discuss how it all unfolded behind closed doors. "There are some things that we discussed within the conference and we keep them there," Alexander said moments after the meeting. "We've done what we need to do and we decided not to do more."
Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming was picked to succeed Murkowski as Conference Vice-Chairman.
From NBC's Ken Strickland
Senate Republicans will vote this afternoon on whether to replace Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski as the top Republican on the chamber's Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
In a closed-door session, the GOP conference will consider a recommendation from Republicans on who should replace Murkowski, who was defeated by Joe Miller in the Alaska GOP primary last month.
Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina is expected to be approved for the top slot on the committee.
Even though the GOP establishment has thrown its support behind Miller, Murkowski recently announced she's still running as a write-in candidate in the general election.
That has caused some heartburn within the Republican ranks. "There is an issue as to whether or not it's appropriate for her, under the circumstances, to continue as ranking member on the Energy Committee," Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday.
The vote is expected at about 2 p.m. ET.
Republicans will also vote on who will replace Murkowski for the leadership position she held as Conference Vice-Chair. She resigned that post shortly after her primary loss. Wyoming's Sen. John Barrasso is expected to get that slot.
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Someone's being sleighted for daring to break ranks this close to the election.
She will have to wear the scarlett letter R for Rino.
The writing may be on the wall, but Lisa has the eraser.......
Stick it to the TeaParty, Lisa! lol
I can't believe I'm agreeing with Karl Rove, but the "heartburn" for Republicans is the Tea Party movement and belief that their extremism is mainstream.
Christine O'Donnell thinks Obama appoints Czars, which is not an official title. It was a term created by the media during Republican control. She quoted the Constitution as if this was a real problem. Her Separation of Church and State comments were just plain incoherent. The government is not to favor any religion, which means Christianity versus Islam, not Evangelical versus Mormon (to all the folks who don't bother to read the actual words).
In the meantime, Sharron Angle attended a John Birch function in Utah--you know, fluoride is used for mind control. Please, where is William F. Buckley when we need him?!
Incumbents like Boehner and McConnell should listen to Rove on this one,and get behind Murkowski and others who are qualified conservatives. But I suspect we will have sad fun with these crazies after November. A possible silver lining is the damage it will cause for the GOP going into 2012.
Our precious bodily fluids are under assault by Communist oppressors - didn't you know?
The problem with Murkowski, Reid, Pelosi, Obama and other incumbents is they forget their JOB is to represent their constituents not themselves
Yes, there is a problem with politicians viewing their positions as a job rather than public service.
But... Representation defined how? If a politician has a liberal majority in their district, or pays attention to majority beliefs (via polls, etc.), then votes the opposite way, then there is no representation. For example, most Americans don't support extension of tax cuts for the top 2% of wealth, or DADT, or making abortion illegal in cases of rape/incest, etc. Yet we see the Republican/Tea Party voting the opposite way. Conservatives forget that at least half the country is left of center at any given time, and the liberal constituents expect representation too.
Sharron Angle thinks tyranny is when her candidates don't win in a fair election in a democratic system. This is the problem, this whole "taking my country back" mentality and 5th-grade level understanding of things like the Constitution/Bill of Rights.
TruePatriot,
Our system of government is not based on polls - it is based on representation. Polls are great for helping representatives understand what their constituents are thinking about a particular issue and thereby possibly affect their vote. But, the true intent is to have men and women of character that vote in the best interest of their constituents and country - using their ideology and beliefs as a guide.
She deserves it. I mean can she not take a hint? The people dont want her.
Gman1,
What people? Less than 15% of registered voters vote in a political party's primary election. By your reckoning this extremist minority decides a nominee. If this continues, the GOP will become irrelevant and a center-right third party, hopefully, will be formed.
tanstafl,
Based on your logic, all nominees from primary elections are suspect. But, the truth of the matter is that if people wanted to vote, they could and would have. Lisa did not generate enough interest in her own party to win the primary. Since she is no longer the Republican nominee, the party has to treat her accordingly. The party certainly cannot just ignore the primary results - the voters chose whom they wanted to represent them.
The Republican Southern Strategy: Punish Murkowski: Promote a South Carolina Senator. That's how you become a regional party.
Ha Ha, those temper tantrums undoubtedly have made GOPTP very hungry. Could the GOPTP could be ANY less friendly ?
Richard Burr will be an outstanding leader and not a follower or a yes man to Obama's anti-American alliance.
Fish, you obviously don't know much about Burr since you failed to notice/mention that he is a Senator from N.C., not S.C. as the article states. If you want to blow the anti-Obama horn, then just do it and stop pretending you know what you are talking about.
remember in the GOP BIG TENT there is always room for dissenting views - wait that should read - no dissenting views.
Alaska not having a say on energy policy. Hmm, it's a good idea for Alaska to get rid of her. Will Miller serve Alaska or the Tea Party? To get money for Alaska it doesn't appear he can do both.
Yea that means ppl like me...Keep it up Obama. We know the republicans ran this country in the ground and its going to take a lot more than 18 months and "No" to fix it.
No, the @!$%# went down hill in 2007. Hmmm, what happened in 2007?
what happened in 2007? all the crap that had been laying around since 2001 finally hit the fan!
This will fix all the problems,,,,Alaska needs to vote Democrat!!!