WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 19: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (L) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Joseph Leiberman (I-CT) participate in a ceremony honoring Leiberman at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services December 19, 2012 in Washington, DC. Lieberman, who is retiring after 24 years in the U.S. Senate, was recognized by Napolitano for his “advocacy and leadership on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security and the country and for helping to ensure the safety and security of the American people.” (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Out with Big Sis.
In with Joe?
The ink hasn’t even begun to dry on the resignation letter of U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and multiple D.C. pundits are putting retired Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut on their short-list of candidates for the Cabinet post.
A message seeking comment from Lieberman was left Friday afternoon with a Lieberman aide at Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP in New York, where Lieberman accepted a position as a senior counsel in June.
Lieberman, 71, served as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee until his retirement at the end of 2012.
The former vice presidential nominee played a leading role in the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Earlier this week, Lieberman penned an article in the Wall Street Journal about nuclear proliferation in Iran and the danger it poses to the U.S. national security. Hmm.
Lieberman didn’t exactly endear himself to the future President Obama when he gave a keynote address at the 2008 Republican National Convention in support of his Senate friend and ally, John McCain, the GOP nominee for president.
And then there was Lieberman’s 2006 re-election campaign, when he lost the Democratic primary to dove candidate Ned Lamont and resorted to running as a third-party candidate under the banner of Connecticut for Lieberman to win the general election.