Lieberman, meanwhile, takes the helm of the high-profile investigative watchdog arm of the Senate, the Governmental Affairs Committee. On Wednesday, Chairman Lieberman held hearings on energy price fixing, an issue that he will continue probing next week with a similarly themed hearing that will question representatives of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Democrats like Lieberman and California Gov. Gray Davis have asked that the FERC impose temporary price caps on energy charges in the Western U.S. this summer.

It is a hearing that the committee's former chairman, Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., would likely have never held, as it highlights an issue -- energy policy -- on which Bush does not currently enjoy popular support, according to polls. A source in Lieberman's office says he will also probably hold hearings on "environmental rollbacks" -- the environmental laws passed by President Clinton that Bush has been trying to rescind, like the restriction on the arsenic levels allowable in drinking water.

Biden, the only one from the pack who has run for president before, has been thrust into the position of heading up the Foreign Relations Committee. But Biden once chaired the high-profile Judiciary Committee, too, and under seniority rules would be able to take over again, wresting the gavel from Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., if he so chose.

That caused a quandary. Biden wasn't sure what to do. In Senate lore, the accusations that Foreign Relations Committee chairmen can easily be painted as "out of touch" with voters back home looms large; that's how former Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill., memorably unseated respected former Sen. Charles Percy, R-Ill. On the other hand, President Bush is not known for his expertise on world affairs, and a strong and knowledgeable foil to Bush on the Foreign Relations Committee could prove formidable.

"There are two overriding issues Senator Biden has said he has had concern about since President Bush took office -- missile defense and criminal justice issues, as well as the Supreme Court," says Biden spokesman Norm Kurz. "A lot of members pointed to Judiciary and said, 'Joe, this is where the action is, it will get a lot of attention and you could make a difference.' It was tempting."

The Judiciary Committee -- where high drama like the Clarence Thomas hearings often plays out -- will be the high-visibility battleground for all of Bush's judicial nominees. It is the locale where Bush's plans have met with the most serious and effective Democratic opposition yet.

But Biden's jump to the Judiciary post would also have started a case of musical chairs that could have hurt other colleagues. Leahy would have probably then taken the chairmanship of the Agriculture Committee, which would have displaced Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Harkin, one of the Democratic caucus's most vulnerable members, faces a tough reelection race against Rep. Greg Ganske, R-Iowa, a moderate who is the House sponsor of the HMO patients bill of rights. With such competition, Harkin needs all the help he can get, and that includes retaining the Agriculture chairmanship, an impressive position for the farmers back home.

With these factors in mind, Biden was eventually given chairmanship of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs -- a subcommittee, ironically, that Biden had phased out when he was Judiciary chairman so that he could preside over the relevant hearings in full committee.

The crime subcommittee was likely to return anyhow, but meeting Biden's needs certainly played a role in its re-creation.

A subsequent Biden press release, "Biden Announces Major New Role on Judiciary Committee," hyped his role on the crime subcommittee chairmanship while announcing that he would "also" chair Foreign Relations.

From this new perch, Biden has already spoken out against President Bush's lack of financial support for the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) program, which provided block grants for communities to put more policemen on the street. Biden spokesman Kurz says that his boss will focus on COPS -- the original bill for which he drafted -- as well as juvenile justice, drugs and domestic violence. Biden's Foreign Relations Committee, meanwhile, just held a hearing on Macedonia and NATO, and "next Wednesday [Secretary of State] Colin Powell will be the sole witness at a hearing about U.S. security in Europe," says Kurz. "This will follow the return of the president from his trip to Europe so I think it will be pretty high profile." Additionally, hearings on Bush's plans for a national missile defense will probably begin in early July.

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