Sen. Daniel Akaka will retain the chairmanship of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee but could lose the helm of two subcommittees if Democrats win undecided Senate races.

Akaka, D-Hawaii, was in line to lead the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee if Senate Democrats had yesterday ousted Sen. Joe Lieberman, a former Democrat and now a Connecticut independent who actively backed Republican Sen. John McCain for president.

But Democrats by a 42-13 margin agreed to a resolution that allowed Lieberman to keep his post. However, the resolution also stripped Lieberman of a subcommittee chairmanship on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and condemned his statements during the fall campaign criticizing then-Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

Senate Democratic leaders will not announce subcommittee chairmanships for several days, until the outcomes of three undecided Senate races are known, said Jesse Broder Van Dyke, Akaka's spokesman.

The unresolved contests are in Minnesota, Georgia and Alaska—though Alaska's Sen. Ted Stevens was headed for defeat last night.

Van Dyke said the leadership is discussing a rule change, with an eye on the possibility of more Democrats joining the Senate, that would bar members from heading more than one committee and one subcommittee.

Akaka heads the Veterans' Affairs Committee and three smaller panels: the subcommittee on government management and the District of Columbia of the Homeland Security Committee; the subcommittee on national parks of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and the subcommittee on readiness of the Armed Services Committee.