By Catharine Richert, CQ Staff

Joseph I. Lieberman ’s drama is over.

By 42-13, Senate Democrats decided Tuesday to let the Connecticut Independent keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, and welcomed him back to their weekly policy lunches.

Nevertheless, the caucus decided to take away Lieberman’s gavel on the global warming subcommittee of the Environment and Public Works Committee and boot him off the committee as well.

The vote came after Lieberman agreed to leave that panel.

Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., he said, “asked me to reqlinquish my seat on the Environment Committee ... in part to make room for freshmen and new senators who want to be on that committee. I said that I would, in the spirit of cooperation, do that.”

Lieberman, a lifelong Democrat, won re-election as an independent in 2006 after losing the Democratic primary to an anti-war challenger. He has voted with Democrats about 80 percent of the time in the 110th Congress and effectively gave them their 51-49 operating majority.

But he split with the party repeatedly on Iraq policy, and he incurred the wrath of many Democrats by not only endorsing but also stumping for Republican presidential nominee John McCain , R-Ariz.

Lieberman was not asked in the meeting to apologize for supporting McCain over President-elect Barack Obama .

“Some of the things people have said I said about Sen. Obama are simply not true. There are other statements I made that I wish I had made more clearly. And there are some that I made that I wish I had not made at all. Obviously in the heat of the campaign, that happens to all of us and I regret that, but now it’s time to move on,” Lieberman said.

For weeks, the Democratic leadership and caucus have been weighing what, if any, punishment would be appropriate for Lieberman’s intensive support of McCain and aggressive campaigning against Obama. Members universally expressed deep disappointment in Lieberman for his words against Obama.

Sen. Thomas R. Carper , D-Del., said Lieberman’s “repeated criticism of Barack this fall was not just disappointing, it was hurtful.” But the caucus, he said, “has decided that if President-elect Barack Obama can forgive, so can we. If Barack can move on, so can we.”

Reid earlier offered Lieberman the chairmanship of a lesser committee if he would give up the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs gavel. But Lieberman flatly rejected that proposal and even signaled that he might join the Republicans if the Democrats pushed him too hard. Obama urged Democrats to keep Lieberman in the fold.

Democratic leaders sent out a team of four senators to gauge what kind of punishment members thought was appropriate. Ideas ranged from taking away Lieberman’s subcommittee chairmanships to booting him from the party altogether.